2008 Season Highlights

Dear friends and two-wheeled fanatics,

for the 10th consecutive year the MotoGP championship has broken all visibility records throughout the world and it is touching the au-dience figures of F1 in certain countries. An unprecedented success that makes ever-yone proud to be associated with MotoGP and especially the members of LCR who only three years ago started this project in the premier class. One year full of new experiences, lots of adre-nalina and lots and lots of work that we did with pride and passion that brought us through the good times and the bad times together!The “highlights” of our season that you will see in the following pages you can relive all our adventures and share our experiences in this adventures, fascinating world of MotoGP. The show which is MotoGP gives of all its audience a spectacular show and is so diverse people from all over the world can join us!We want to say a special thank you to our sup-porters we have enabled us to work to a high professional standard. The professionalism that we had in 2008 we are going to build on this in 2009 to make the LCR MotoGP show more entertaining for everybody.

THE PLACE

2008Season

LUCIO CECCHINELLO’S MESSAGE

TO BE

8

20

26

34

40

46

52

60

14

GRAND PRIX OF QATAR

GRAND PRIX OF SPAIN

GRAND PRIX OF PORTUGAL

GRAND PRIX OF CHINA

GRAND PRIX OF FRANCE

GRAND PRIX OF ITALY

GRAND PRIX OF CATALUNYA

GRAND PRIX OF UK

GRAND PRIX OF HOLLAND

INDEX

66

72

84

92

98

112

118

GRAND PRIX OF USA

GRAND PRIX OF CZECH REP.

GRAND PRIX OF S.MARINO REP.

GRAND PRIX OF INDIANAPOLIS

GRAND PRIX OF JAPAN

GRAND PRIX OF MALAYSIA

GRAND PRIX OF VALENCIA

GRAND PRIX OF GERMANY

78

106 GRAND PRIX OF AUSTRALIA

6

The air temperature reached a maximum of 15° but the track conditions were a bit wor-se compared with last week testing days because of the dust brought by the wind. The LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Pu-niet set a fastest lap of 1’56.234 aboard his Michelin-shod Honda RC212V comple-ting a total of 23 laps. The Frenchman was only 0.792s off the fastest lap off Stoner.

RANDY DE PUNIET KICKS OFF HIS 2008 SEASON AT QATAR

Losail, 7 March:The 800cc riders got on track today for the first day of practice of Qatar opening-season GP. The premier class riders came out at 7 pm for the first ses-sion thanks to the new lightning system at the “desert” circuit whilst the second ses-sion started at 22.55 with Stoner on the top of the timesheets in both occasions.

Grand Prix

1Round

CIRCUIT OF LOSAIL 2008QATARof

7

Honda on the grid. Despite a crash in the evening free session, De Puniet circulated the “desert” circuit 40 times during the two sessions clocking his quickest time of 1’54.818. The track surface dropped to 15° this eve-ning with all the riders making their tyres choices for tomorrows 22-lap night event which will start at 23:00 local time. To-day’s frontrunner Jorge Lorenzo topped the board with a 1’53.927 lap followed by Toseland and Edwards.

De Puniet: “This first day was not easy because the track was more slippery than last week. In the first session we worked on the engine map but the performance was a bit lazy and I struggled with the rear. We solved the problem for the second night test but, when I came out, I started to lose confidence with the front. The surface was very dirty and I risked to crash twice. Anyway it seems that we found the solu-tion to improve my feeling for tomorrow”.

DE PUNIET FIRST HONDA RIDER ON FIRST FLOODLIT QUALIFYING IN QATAR

Losail, 8 March: LCR Honda MotoGP ri-der Randy De Puniet had a brilliant night at Losail race track ending the MotoGP’s first ever- floodlit qualifying session in 5th place. The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V nr. 14 worked hard with his crew to solve a lack of front end grip in both sessions, even with these pro-blems he managed to be the first

QUALIFY

8

DE PUNIET ENDS IN THE TOP TEN THE OPENING RACE AT QATAR

Losail, 9 March: LCR Honda MotoGP ra-cer Randy De Puniet finished in 9th po-sition the first ever World Championship night race at Qatar floodlit track. With a track temperature of 19° the premier class riders got underway the first GP of the 2008 season at 23:00 local time. Following on from an impressive practice sessions, Stoner won the opening round followed by Yamaha rider Lorenzo and HRC Spaniard Dani Pedrosa. .After struggling for front end lack of grip in yesterday’s both sessions, the Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V nr. 14 started from the 5th position for the 22-lap event but he had a wrong fee-ling in the first two laps loosing the chance to catch the group ahead. Once he got a better feeling, the Frenchman managed to finish in the top 10 and this is his first ever time finish of the Qatar GP.

De Puniet: “Today’s track conditions were better than yesterday but it was a long day for me and the team. In the free session I lost the front and crashed but my Team made a excellent work and the bike was ready for the qualifying. Firstly I went out on used tyre with the bike nr. 1: the setting was different but the lap ti-mes were consistent and fast. I came in to fit a new tyre but could not finish the run because of some technical problems. So I decided to swap on bike nr. 2 and the feeling was pretty good. We started to test the q-tyres and my pace was fa-ster than last week testing days. On my last qualifying lap I came upon Elias who stopped my fast lap and decided to slow down. I feel quite satisfied but the feeling on race tyres could be better: we will work it out in tomorrows warm-up session”.

RACE

9

De Puniet: “After the good testing days of last week and the pace we had yester-day in race trim I was expecting something better. Honestly my start was not perfect but in the first two laps I rode the bike on the ice! I was not absolutely comfortable with the front and I struggled to stand up. Then the situation improved and I started to lap consistently fast overtaking a couple of riders. In the last 5 laps I tried my best to pass Capirossi but his bike acceleration was better than mine. By the way the top ten position is a positive result for me as this is the first ever time that I have fini-shed this race”.

10

PA

DD

OC

Klife

12

time on 1’41.268.The Frenchman riding the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V worked hard with his crew to solve a lack of rear grip in the morning first free session improving his lap time of nearly one second in the afternoon session. Today’s tack temperature reached 27° and Randy worked mainly on tyres testing with Michelin staff to find the same feeling he had in the winter test.

DE PUNIET BATTLES THROUGH GRIP ISSUES TO 11th

Jerez, 28 March 2008: the LCR Honda MotoGP Team rider Randy De Puniet was back on track today for the first European round of the 2008 season at Jerez de la Frontera after the night race of Qatar th-ree weeks ago. Randy circulated the Sou-thern Spain circuit 49 times throughout the day clocking his fastest lap

Grand Prix

2Round

CIRCUIT OF JEREZ

SPAINof

13

the session, De Puniet gained the 6th po-sition and his Honda is the third fastest on the grid behind Hayden and Pedrosa ones. Thanks to the specific adjustments made in this morning free session, the French-man improved his yesterdays lap time of four tenths on race tyres with a ground temperature of 26°. The Spaniard rider Lorenzo on Yamaha top-ped the timesheets today with a 1’38.189 lap time followed by Pedrosa on Honda and Edwards on Yamaha.

De Puniet – 11th: “In this morning free session we suffered a rear traction pro-blem which prevented me to go faster. I could not open the throttle and when I came in we decided to continue the whole ses-sion with the same tyres. Then we worked on engine mapping and chassis set-up to get a better feeling for the afternoon ses-sion: basically we made a step forward but it’s still not the same level we had here in the testing days. By the way we will make some specific adjustments for tomorrow to gain a couple of tenths”.

DE PUNIET ON SECOND ROW AT JEREZ TRACK

Jerez, 29 March 2008: the LCR Honda Mo-toGP Team rider Randy De Puniet got the second row for tomorrows 27-lap race at the crowded Jerez de la Frontera circuit. The Frenchman riding the Honda RC212V nr. 14 made 22 laps in total in this after-noon qualifying session clocking his qui-ckest time of 1’39.122 on lap 10.Despite a crash in the first corner at the end of

QUALIFY

14

DE PUNIET EARLY EXIT AT JEREZ GP

Jerez, 30 March 2008: after yesterdays good qualifying session result, the LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet crashed out in Jerez de la Frontera GP. The 27-year French rider aboard the Mi-chelin-shod Honda RC212V got the sixth position on the grid yesterday but, after a bad start, he lost the font on turn five and finished in the gravel on lap three.

Luckily for the Frenchman he escaped un-hurt from the incident but he was unable to complete the 27-lap race at the Sou-thern Spain track. Sunny skies and hot temperatures welcomed the Spanish fans this morning which celebrated the victory of their fellow countryman Dani Pedrosa on Honda, followed by Yamaha riders Valenti-no Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. The premier class riders will be back on track tomor-row for one testing day.

De Puniet: - 6th: “I am quite happy about this result. The small adjustments we made in this morning free session gave me the chance to go faster and the feeling with the bike on race tyres is quite impressive. We solved our problems of rear traction working on engine mapping and chassis set-up and the pace on race tyres impro-ved of four tenths compared with yester-days performance. My feeling on Q-tyres is getting better even thought I found some traffic in the middle of the session. In my last lap on qualifiers I was trying to go fa-ster but I made a mistake entering in the first corner and crashed. Anyway the se-cond row was our target and we are pret-ty confident for tomorrows race”.

RACE

15

De Puniet: - crashed: “I am very disappoin-ted about the crash. Honestly I made a bad start and lost several positions in the first lap. Then, I found my pace again and was ready to catch the firsts. I was in the middle of the corner on lap th-ree and my line was correct but suddenly I lost the front and crashed. When I came in I checked the data with my Team but we still do not understand the reason why I finished in the gravel. I was expecting so-mething better here after the top-ten fi-nish in Qatar. By the way we will continue our set-up work tomorrow and we will fo-cus on suspension regulations to bet in a competitive form at Estoril”.

16

PA

DD

OC

Klife

18

class, got the 9th position today clocking his quickest lap time of 1’39.332. With changeable weather conditions due to the ocean winds, this morning free session was wet with track temperature of 15° whilst in the afternoon the temperature went up to 22° and De Puniet went around the windy track 42 times throughout the day working on the base set up of his ma-chine.

DE PUNIET GOT THE 9th PlACE AT ESTORIL GP FIRST DAY OF PRACTICES

Estoril, 11 April 2008: the LCR Honda Mo-toGP rider Randy De Puniet faced up his first day of practices at the windy Esto-ril track aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V. The Frenchman, who can rely good experience at Portuguese track whe-re he was successful three times in 250cc

PORTUGALGrand Prixof

CIRCUIT OF ESTORIL

3Round

19

the 8th fastest time despite a crash inthe morning session.The Frenchman escaped unhurt from the incident and continued to search for the optimum setting from his machine in the afternoon session recording a quickest lap time of 1’37.223. De Puniet will start from the third row for tomorrows 28-lap race hoping to get a top-six finish at the track where he already got several successes in the past.

De Puniet – 9th: “It was a hard-working day for us but in the end we gathered many data to develop tomorrow. In this morning first session I took my track time to feel the bike and then we started to work on the base set up. It was not bad even tou-gh we struggled a bit with the front-end. However we made a good work together with Michelin staff on tyres selection fin-ding good rear grip which allowed me to ride consistently fast. In the middle of this afternoon session we had some small set-ting problems (braking stability and han-dling) but, after some adjustments, I came out and was able to improve my pace on race tyres”.

THIRD ROW FOR DE PUNIET AT SUNNY ESTORIL

Estoril, 12 April 2008: after yesterday’s unpredictable weather conditions, the sun shined on windswept Estoril track today for the 800cc qualifying session which saw Yamaha rider Lorenzo on the top of the ti-mesheets with a 1’35.715 lap time. The LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet rode his Michelin-shod Honda RC212V to

QUALIFY

20

DE PUNIET OUT OF LUCK AFTER SU-PERB CHARGE THROUGH FIELD

Estoril, 13 April 2008: the LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet made an impressive race at Estoril today starting from the third row but, the Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Hon-da RC212V, crashed in the second-last lap when he was in 7th position. Luckily De Puniet escaped unhurt from the incident and rejoined the Portuguese race ending in 15th position.

The 28-lap race started at 13:00 local time with unpredictable weather conditions af-ter a rain-shower early in the morning and De Puniet got the 6th fastest time in the warm up session with damp surface.

After a bad start from the 8th place the 27-year French rider started to set his pace and was consistently fast passing many riders till the 7th position ahead To-seland at 3 laps to go. Then, at turn 4, De Puniet made a mistake in the middle of the corner and went out in the gravel. Lorenzo won his first premier class race followed by Pedrosa and Rossi.

De Puniet – 8th: “It’s been pretty hard today because this morning I crashed and the guys had to work strongly to prepare the bike for this afternoon session. I want to thank them for their great job. By the way my feeling on race tyres in the mor-ning free session was ok both on the front and the rear and I was confident to impro-ve my pace in the qualifying session. We had a minor technical issue and I was not able to get the same rhythm because the bike was spinning to much. I spent more track time to fix the problem but the I am not very satisfied. Anyway we will make some adjustments in tomorrow’s warm up session and we will see how the bike will react”.

RACE

21

De Puniet – 15th: “I am very disappointed! After my third bad start of the season I knew that I could go faster and catch the first 5 positions so I began to lap consi-stently fast. The bike set-up and the tyres were pretty good therefore I felt comfor-table for the rest of the race and was able to pass several riders including Toseland. Then, in the second-last lap at turn nr. 4, I closed to much the angle in the middle of the corner and lost the front. I went out in the gravel but was able to rejoin the race getting the 15th position which is not the result we expected. Honestly with a bet-ter start I would have been able to catch Hopkins and probably Edwards. Anyway I want to thank my team for the great work they did in this week end and we will pro-ceed with our set-up work in tomorrow’s testing day before the Chinese GP”.

22

PA

DD

OC

Klife

24

but the weather forecast say that the race could be ridden in the wet.The LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet struggled a bit in his first exit at the Chinese track aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V ending the first day of practices in 16th position. Since the first laps in the morning, the Frenchman did not get the right feeling on his machine but the Team is working hard to adjust the bike for tomorrow’s qualifying session.

DE PUNIET PLANNING SHANGHAI SA-TURDAY IMPROVEMENT

Shanghai, 2 May 2008: the 800cc riders were back on track today at Shanghai In-ternational circuit for the Pramac Grand Prix of China first day of free practices which saw Rossi on the top of the time-sheets with a best lap of 1’59.906.163 Warm temperature (25°) and sunny skies welcomed the premier class rider today

CHINAGrand Prixof

CIRCUIT OF SHANGAI

4Round

26

Champions working together

OFFICIAL SPONSOR

®

www.jal-group.com

Aimont , leader nel mercato delle calzature di sicurezza,sponsor uffi ciale LCR Honda MotoGP TEAM.

044115-Caliban-210x280.indd 1 20-02-2009 12:44:27

27

his big progress in the third free session of the morning cutting more than one se-cond from his yesterdays best lap time. De Puniet and the LCR squad focused their efforts on the Honda RC212V’s suspen-sion regulations, chassis set-up and tyre combination gaining the third row for the 22-lap race that gets underway at 15:00 local time tomorrow. Today’s frontrunner Edwards set a 1’58.139 best lap time followed by Rossi and Stoner.

De Puniet – 16th: “It was a very difficult day for us. Since the first laps of this mor-ning session the feeling was very bad espe-cially on the front-end. We worked hard to fix the things for the second session but, unfortunately, the bike did not improve and I was not able to go faster. I feel frustrated about this but I know that my Team is wor-king hard with Michelin and Honda to solve the problems for tomorrow. This result do not show our real potential and I am confi-dent for the rest of the week end”.

DE PUNIET BACK ON THE PACE AT SHANGHAI QUALIFYING SESSION

Shanghai, 3 May 2008: LCR Honda MotoGP Team racer Randy De Puniet made positive steps forward today at the Shanghai International circuit re-cording the 9th quickest time in the after-noon qualifying session with a fastest lap of 1’59.357 from his 21 laps. Today’s track temperature reached 46°C while the air temperature went up to 29°C and the 27-year-old French rider started

QUALIFY

28

DE PUNIET DETERMINED TO COME BACK AT LE MANS RACE

Shanghai, 4 May 2008: The 22-lap race of Pramac Grand Prix of China started at 15:00 local time today with unpredictable weather conditions after a rain-shower early in the morning and today’s winner is Rossi followed by Pedrosa and Lorenzo.

This morning warm up session was wet and the track surface reached a temperature of 23°C with the LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet in 15th position trying to get the correct overall package in wet con-ditions. Then the asphalt of the Chinese track started to dry and, after a bad start from the third row, the Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V was hit by Hopkins in the end of the first lap and went wide to avoid a clash with the Ame-rican rider.

De Puniet started to set his pace but the gap to the front was to wide and he fini-shed the 4th round of the season in 13th position. Le Mans circuit (France) will host the next GP on the 18 of May.

De Puniet – 9th: “After yesterday’s tech-nical problems which prevented me to go faster, we finally found our good pace espe-cially on race tyres. The situation improved a lot and now I can ride with more confi-dence. We fixed some things before this morning free session such as engine map-ping to control the braking stability, power delivery to make the bike smoother, the chassis geometry and the suspension set-ting. I suffered a small crash in the last lap on q-tyres but the most important thing is my pace on race tyres. At the end I was able to lap consistently fast even though we still have some things to adjust in to-morrow’s warm up session. We need to fix the front feeling in two corners but I feel very satisfied about the job we made and thank all my Team for their efforts”.

RACE

29

De Puniet - 13th: “I am very disappointed! My start was bad but at the end of the first lap before the main straight Hopkins tried to overtake me but he made a big mistake and I went wide. I was able to stay up to continue my race but the front-end did not work in the best way. The situation improved after some laps when I passed Guintoli. I also tried my best to pass Tose-land but it was not possible. Honestly we expected a better result here and I hope to do a good race in Le Mans”.

30

PA

DD

OC

Klife

32

De Puniet went back on track today with a special livery of his Michelin-shod Hon-da RC212V decorated with the blue, white and red national flag as well as the helmet and the leather. The 27-year French rider concentrated with his crew to find a cor-rect package for the “stop-and-go” track getting the 8th position with a 1’35.073 best lap time. Todays’ frontrunner Pedrosa set a quickest lap time of 1’34.227.

DE PUNIET IN GOOD FORM AT LE MANS

Le Mans, 16 May 2008: Returning to Eu-rope after the visit to China, the Moto-GP teams and riders gathered at the fa-mous Le Mans circuit in the Sarthe region of France for the first day of practices at the 4.185 km track with a temperature of 19°C. After the party in Paris on Wednesday night, the LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy

Grand Prix

CIRCUIT OF LE MANS

5Round

FRANCEof 2008

33

king stability and tyres choice to impro-ve his pace clocking his best lap time of 1’33.723 (on lap 18 of 26). The 27-year-old made good progress on race set-up showing his potential around the Bugatti Circuit ahead his national fans. Unfortuna-tely the Frenchman was not able to take big advantage from the soft tyres but he feels confident for tomorrow. Today’s pole man Dani Pedrosa set the quickest lap time of 1’32.647.

De Puniet – 8th: “I am quite satisfied about this first day of practices. We made a good work between the two sessions especially with tyres and suspension. This morning I was not comfortable with the rear so we changed the chassis geo-metry and the suspension regulations so the things went better in the afternoon.We deserved the 8th place and I hope to be there in tomorrow’s qualifying session even though we are a bit worried about the weather forecast”.

DE PUNIET POSITIVE FOR FRENCH RACE DESPITE FOURTH ROW START

Le Mans, 17 May 2008: LCR Honda Moto-GP rider Randy De Puniet rode his Michelin-shod Honda RC212V to 12TH place today in the qualifying session at the 4.185m Le Mans circuit in readiness for the tomor-row’s 28-lap race. Today’s both premier class sessions were dry with ambient temperature of 21°C even though weather forecast for tomorrow’s fifth round are still unsettled. After this morning’s 7th position in the free practice, De Puniet worked on bra-

QUALIFY

34

DE PUNIET POSITIVE 9TH AT LE MANS

Le Mans, 18 May 2008: LCR Honda Moto-GP rider Randy De Puniet made an impres-sive race at Le Mans historic circuit today starting from the third row ahead his na-tional fans getting the 9th final place.Despite showing good form during free practice, De Puniet was unable to transla-te that to a hot flying lap on soft tyres during yesterday’s qualifying session but the 27-year-old was confident before the start of the 28-lap race as his overall race package was pretty good. The fifth round of the season at the 4.185m French circuit was held in dry conditions but was white flagged after some laps because of some poor rain and Melandri was the only rider to swap the bike. The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Hon-da RC212V did a good start but cut the first the chicane as he has been pushed out by another rider. He rejoined the race and did his best to end in the top ten. Ros-si got the top of the podium today followed by Lorenzo and Edwards.

De Puniet – 12th: “This morning was not so bad as we improved a lot the bike on race set-up and I lapped consistently fast. We started the afternoon session on quali-fiers because of the incoming bad weather but my feeling was not good enough at the beginning. I was not enough aggressive. Then the feeling was much better but I am a bit disappointed for the fourth row. Any-way I feel confident for tomorrow’s race because my bike package is pretty good and we can ride with a good rhythm for the whole race”.

RACE

35

De Puniet – 9th: “It was not easy for me today because I finally made a good start but another rider pushed me outside the chicane and when I rejoined the race I was ninth. Hopkins overtook me in the inside in the downhill and we both went wide. So I lost five places and was 14th. For the following eight laps my pace was not con-sistent but I started to push hard to be back in the top ten. Finally I was behind Ca-pirossi and Hayden but was to late to pass them. I feel satisfied anyway because this race was a lottery due to mixed conditions of the track”.

36

PA

DD

OC

K

life

38

in full wet conditions but when the sur-face began to dry the Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V did not feel very confident and he gained the 8th quickest time (2’03.568). The LCR squad completed a productive day of race set-up for wet conditions in advance of Sunday’s 23 lap race even though it seems that the weather will change completely for tomor-row’s qualifying session.

DE PUNIET STARTS IN THE RAIN AT MUGELLOMugello, 30 May 2008: Finishing eight fa-stest in a dramatic day of free practice for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. Both sessions were conducted on a wet track as the 5.245 km circuit was lashed by a torrential rain storm that made conditions extreme-ly difficult.De Puniet was the pacesetter for the major part of the second session

Grand Prix

CIRCUIT OF MUGELLO

6Round

ITALYof2008

41

Yesterday, in full rain conditions, the Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Hon-da RC212V was again a strong performer but he struggled in the second part of the session when the surface started to dry up. So Randy focused his work mainly on tyres testing and suspension regulations to find a good set-up for tomorrow’s 23-lap race clocking his quickest lap time of 1’49.246 (on lap 22 of 26). Today’s po-leman Rossi set his fastest lap time of 1’48.130.

De Puniet – 8th: “Basically we can cut the afternoon’s session in two parts: the first part was completely wet and I was one of the fastest riders in these conditions. It was easy for me to lap with a fast rhythm because had a very good feeling with the overall package. When the track started to dry up I did not feel enough comforta-ble on the bike. This is something that we must improve. We will do our best to set up the bike in dry conditions in the morning free session”.

FOURTH ROW FOR RANDY AT MUGELLO Mugello, 31 May 2008: The sun shined at Mugello circuit today for final qualifying and the LCR Honda MotoGP Team rider Randy De Puniet qualified in 12th position for to-morrow’s Italian Grand Prix. After yester-day’s torrential rain, blue skies and am-bience temperature of 24° C welcomed the premier class riders today at the crowded Italian circuit which hosts the sixth round of the calendar.

QUALIFY

42

DE PUNIET IN EARLY EXIT FROM ITA-LIAN GRAND PRIX

Mugello, 1 June 2008: Under sunny skies the Italian Grand Prix was run at a very hot pace today but LCR Honda MotoGP Team rider Randy De Puniet did not finish the race crashing out on lap six. Despite some adjustments in the morning warm up to improve the rear feeling of his Michelin-shod Honda RC212V, De Puniet did not feel confident during the 23-lap race won by Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi.

Starting from the 12th the 27-year-old get a good start and finished the first lap in ninth but lacked full confidence in the rear. He tried to settle his rhythm anyway but on lap six at turn 2 he crashed out in the gravel whilst he was overtaking Ver-meulen. Randy suffered a small injury on his left lit-tle finger but will be ok for Barcelona race next week end.

De Puniet – 12th: “I knew that it would not have been easy to find the right set-up on dry with two practice sessions only and we still have to adjust some points espe-cially in the rear of the bike. We tried diffe-rent tyres and settings but I am not very happy. I could be faster in the last part of the qualifying session but Lorenzo came out in front of me and l lost my last fast lap. I could shave some tenths and start from the third row. Anyway we must work on the bike set-up in tomorrow’s warm up session to improve the rear grip”.

RACE

43

De Puniet - crashed: “I am very disappoin-ted because I made a very good start, pro-bably the best of this season, and I was in the top ten on the first lap. But I immedia-tely felt a strange feeling in the rear and the bike started to slide and bump. I tried to keep my position but it was not possible and lost some places. Then, on lap six at turn two, I overtook Vermeulen but he pro-bably hit my brake level and was not able to control the bike. I crashed and suffered a small injury in my left little finger. It aches a lot now but it will be ok for Barcelona”.

44

PA

DD

OC

K

life

46

The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V clocked his fastest lap time of 1’43.742 although the pain in his left little finger completing 41 laps throu-ghout the day.Despite two crashes in the opening day at the 4.727km track De Puniet feels confi-dent for tomorrow’s qualifying session. To-day’s ambience temperature reached 26°C whilst the track surface reached 41°C.

SUMMER ARRIVES FOR PRACTICE IN BARCELONA

Barcelona, 6 June: The opening day of free practice for Sunday’s Catalunya Grand Prix was conducted in near perfect summer weather today, with LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet setting the 12th fa-stest time. De Puniet was one of 13 riders within one second of the best time posted by Spanish rider Pedrosa in a closely con-tested session at the Montmeló circuit.

Grand Prix

7Round

CIRCUIT OF MONTMELO

CATALUNYAof2008

47

world’s largest integrated betting and ga-ming group), the 27-year-old was confident that he had solved the set-up problems that slowed him in free practice yesterday at the 4.727 km Spanish circuit. Despite his left little finger ache due to the Mugello crash, De Puniet clocked his quickest lap time of 1’41.571 on lap 24 less than four tenths off the fastest lap of the day. De Puniet will start from the second row for tomorrow’s 25-lap race that gets un-derway at 14:00. Pole position was clai-med by Stoner on Ducati.

De Puniet – 12th: “Today was not very easy. At the beginning I was very fast but after that we tried some different tyres and suspension regulations and was diffi-cult for me to improve the lap time as the biggest problem came from the rear be-cause it was spinning to much. Also the front-end feeling does not make me very confident especially in the braking but I think that with some adjustments we can easily improve our pace. I want to thank my crew because after the crash they made a very good job and the bike was ready for the afternoon’s session”.

DE PUNIET SHINES AT BARCELONA GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING

Barcelona, 7 June 2008: Qualifying for the Catalunya Grand Prix was run in dry con-ditions today with ambience temperature of 21°C and the LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet made solid progress en-ding the day 4th gaining his best qualifying result so far aboard the Honda machine. After some set-up changes to his Miche-lin-shod Honda RC212V branded with EU-ROBET colours for this event (one of the

QUALIFY

48

EARLY EXIT FOR DE PUNIET AT CATA-LUNYA GP

Barcelona, 8 June 2008: Under sunny skies the Catalunya Grand Prix was run at a very hot pace today but LCR Honda Mo-toGP Team rider Randy De Puniet did not finish the race crashing out on lap twel-ve while he was in 6th position. De Puniet qualified fourth yesterday for the 25-lap race at the Spanish track and made a good start from the second row ending the first lap in 5th position. The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V immediately set an impres-sive rhythm after the start of the seventh round of the season battling in a 5-rider group till the beginning of twelfth lap. Then De Puniet lost the front entering the first corner and he crashed in the gravel. Lu-ckily he escaped unhurt from the incident but was not able to rejoin the race.Pedro-sa won the race ahead his fans followed by Rossi and Stoner.The MotoGP championship will move to En-gland for the Donington GP on the 22 of June.

De Puniet – 4th: “I am very happy because it’s my best result so far this year in qua-lifying and I also had a very good feeling on race tyres as I lapped consistently fast. My crew made a perfect set-up job on the bike after yesterday’s problems and now I feel more comfortable. I can easily han-dle the front-end in the braking setting my pace lap by lap. They adjusted the chassis set-up and we found acceptable rear grip. We still have to fix some points but now the overall package works pretty well. My hands still ache but it’s not a big problem. We will see after the race”.

RACE

49

De Puniet – crashed: “I am very disappoin-ted because I made a very good qualifying, the best of this season so far, and got a very good start. When I got the sixth place I knew that I could overtake Edwards and was waiting for the correct moment but, at turn one on lap twelve, I lost the front and crashed out. I suffered the same crash on Friday in the free session but do not un-derstand why because the bike set-up was good and in the previous laps I did not feel any particular problem in the front-end. Honestly I do not make any mistake and will check the data to understand what happened”.

50

PA

DD

OC

Klife

52

laps throughout the day. After the disappointment of last race in Barcelona, the 27-year-old is determined to bounce back on the track where he got the victory in 2005 aboard the 250cc ma-chine. So Randy focused his work mainly on tyre testing and chassis set-up today po-sting his best lap time of 1’29.443 as the weather forecast for tomorrow is for rain showers. The fastest time overall today was set by Australian rider Casey Stoner (1’28.253).

DE PUNIET TENTH AT OPENING DAY AT DONINGTON

Donington, 20 June 2008: LCR Honda Mo-toGP rider Randy De Puniet clocked the 10th fastest lap time at today’s opening free practice sessions at Donington Park for the British Grand Prix. The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V nr. 14 went about his busi-ness in dry conditions with ambience tem-perature of 19°C and made a total of 55

KINGDOM

Grand Prix

8Round

CIRCUIT OF DONINGTON 2008

UNITEDof

54

Massime prestazioni.parola di Randy De Puniet

RapidBike Technology Partner Honda LCR MotoGP Team 2008 Season

<

Via torino, 16 15020 gabiano (AL) - ITALYPh. +39 0142/955211 Fax +39 0142/955012

e-mail: [email protected]

www.dimsport.com

Rapid Bike. La passione e la tecnologia Dimsport per donare alla tua moto performances straordinarie.

Centralina aggiuntiva a microprocessoreSpecifica per motocicli (Scooter, Superbike, Custom)Più performance sull’area di erogazione+/- 10° di anticipo+/- 100% sull’iniezioneSoftware professionale per mappatureConnettori originali

<<<<<<<

Dall’esperienza Dimsport Technology, Rapid Bike: la centralina che ottimizza le performance dei motocicli in base alle più personali esigenze di guida. Modulabile per Scooter, Superbike e Custom con cablaggi e software specifici.

55

hit by persistent rain as predicted by the weather forecast with track temperature of only 16°.The 27-year-old suffered from a lack of grip due to the slippery track con-ditions and crashed a couple of times in the morning free session. The hour long qualifying session was ridden on a similarly damp surface, but with grip at a premium, the Frenchman was unable to feel comfor-table on the bike and came home fourte-enth. Today’s poleman is Stoner followed by Rossi and Vermeulen.

De Puniet – 10th: “This morning we had some traction problems but we solved them for the afternoon’s session. Anyway I still do not feel confident with the front-end in the corner entry. Compared with this morning the situation improved a bit because we reduced the gap but we still have to adjust it. If we find the right way to fix the front I can easily shave some tenths but it seems that the weather is getting worse tomorrow. If so we will have to work on bike setting in wet conditions especially on tyre testing to get the correct pace on race tyres in any condition”.

RAIN LASHES SECOND DAY OF PRACTI-CES AT DONINGTON

Donington, 21 June 2008: LCR Honda Mo-toGP Team rider Randy De Puniet will start the British Grand Prix from the 5th row after a difficult qualifying session at Do-nington Park today. De Puniet posted the 14th fastest time (1’41.110), on the rain-lashed and slippery 4.024 km track.After yesterday’s sunny opening day of the British GP when De Puniet managed tenth in the dry, this morning free session was

QUALIFY

56

TWELFTH PLACE FOR DE PUNIET AT DONINGTON

Donington, 22 June 2008: the LCR Hon-da MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet got the final 12th place in today’s 30-lap British Grand Prix at Donington Park. The eight round of the season started to-day at 15:00 local time and was held in dry conditions with cloudy skies and wind speed of 40Km/h.

De Puniet qualified eight in this morning warm up session at the 4.024Km but star-ted 14th aboard his Michelin-shod Honda RC212V nr.14. After a good start the 27-year-old lost some positions because of Toseland’s crash ahead him and struggled for the rest of the race with the bike set-up. The LCR team will now move to Netherland for next GP at Assen historic circuit.

De Puniet -14th: “This morning I crashed twice and we could not improve our ma-chine in the wet because we spent a lot of time to adjust both bikes. Then in the afternoon session we fixed some points in the chassis set-up and suspension regu-lations making an improvement in full wet condition but it’s still not perfect. At the end of the session the track surface was still wet but getting better and probably we did not chose the right tyre in those conditions. Basically we are paying a little bit the track time we lost this morning and maybe it cost us some positions in the grid but we must deal with it”.

RACE

57

De Puniet – 12th: “It was a difficult race for me. After the start, when Toseland crashed I was behind him and went wide lo-osing some positions. On lap 7 I was behind Hopkins and West but could not pass them because the bike was to heavy and could not change directions easily and could not brake as late as I wanted. On the last lap some people started to run close to the race track and I lost the concentration for a while so Elias passed me on the straight. This is not a brilliant performance but after the crashes we had in the recent races we are trying to set up the bike in the right way but we still miss something. We will work it out in Assen in the next days”.

58

PA

DD

OC

K

life

60

The LCR squad completed a productive day at the 4.555km circuit chasing the best set-up for the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V nr. 14. De Puniet concentrated his work mainly on tyre testing and chas-sis set-up finding a good overall package for tomorrow’s qualifying session.Today’s pacesetter Stoner clocked his fa-stest lap time of 1’36.087.

GOOD START FOR THE DE PUNIET AT ASSEN

Assen, 26 June 2008: LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet was in good form to-day, finishing seventh fastest in a very hot day of free practice for Saturday’s Ducth Grand Prix. Both sessions were conducted on dry track with ambience temperature of 22°C and the 27-year-old set his best lap time of 1’37.187 on the last lap of this afternoon’s session.

HOLLANDGrand Prixof

9Round

CIRCUIT OF TT ASSEN 2008

61

After some set-up changes to his Michelin-shod Honda RC212V nr. 14, the 27-year-old was in a sparkling form at the 4.555Km historic track clocking the 2nd fastest lap time in the morning free session in the wet. De Puniet will start from the second row tomorrow for the 26-lap race thanks to his best lap time of 1’35.985 less than five tenths off the quickest lap of the day.

De Puniet – 7th: “I am very happy today because we made a good job in both ses-sions and we gained one second in the af-ternoon one. The bike is easier for me and we found the right direction for this chal-lenging track. We made some adjustments to the bike trying to improve the stability on braking and turning into the corners on the brakes which was a problem this mor-ning. With the adjustments on the front fork setting we shaved some tenths and the rear tyres we tested were all of a good grip level. Basically it was a very positive first day of practices for us and I want to the thank my Team for their efforts”.

DE PUNIET SHINES AT ASSEN QUALI-FYING

Assen, 27 June 2008: Qualifying for the Ducth Grand Prix was run in dry condi-tions today with ambience temperature of 20°C despite some rain showers in the morning free session.LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet made solid progress ending the day 5th gaining another good result in qualifying after the 4th place at Barcelona some weeks ago.

QUALIFY

62

UNLUCKY DUCTH GRAND PRIX FOR DE PUNIET

Assen, 28 June 2008: LCR Honda MotoGP Team rider Randy De Puniet did not finish the Dutch Grand Prix at Assen today as he got involved in Rossi’ s crash at turn five in the first lap. Riding the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V nr. 14, the 27-year-old showed his tra-demark getting good lap times in every session throughout the week end at the 4.555 km circuit which hosted the ninth round of the season.

After yesterday’s positive qualifying ses-sion, De Puniet started from the fifth pla-ce for the 26-lap race which was held on dry track despite the rain shower in the morning. De Puniet immediately set his good pace on race trim keeping the fifth position till the incident. He crashed out in the gravel with Rossi (who rejoined the race) suffering a small abrasion in his left thigh. Stoner won the race followed by Pe-drosa and Edwards.

De Puniet – 5th: “It was a good week end so far because I feel comfortable on the bike and all the practices sessions were pretty positive. We found a competitive overall package and want to thank my staff for their good job including Michelin because the race ty-res we tested were all of a good grip level: even my laps on qualifiers were consisten-tly fast and the second row start will help me to stay with the firsts. Tomorrow’s race will be very close but I am looking for-ward to ending this week end in the most positive fashion”.

RACE

63

De Puniet - crashed: “We all deserve a lot better than this! Since the beginning of this week end my pace was consistently fast and could stay with the top 5 riders today. I made a very good start and was in the 5th position when Rossi crashed and I was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”. We both went out in the gravel but he rejoined the race. Probably he arrived to fast and lost the rear in the braking hitting my bike. I am very disappointed because we could fight for a good result here. Luckily I only suffered a small abrasion in my left thigh. Want to thank my Team for their ex-cellent work during this week end”.

64

PA

DD

OC

Klife

66

clocked his fastest lap time of 1’23.116 (less than 4 tenths off the 4th fastest Valentino Rossi) in the middle of the af-ternoon session chasing the correct set-up for tomorrow’s qualifying session. The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Hon-da RC212V made 58 laps throughout the day setting a good rhythm on race trim. Stoner topped the timesheets with a 1’21.582 quickest lap time.

DE PUNIET, TENTH FASTEST, CONFI-DENT AFTER DAY ONE

Sachsenring, 11 July: The opening day of free practice for Sunday’s Deutschland Grand Prix was conducted in near per-fect summer weather today with ambien-ce temperature of 30°C at the 3.671Km Sachsenring track which hosts the ninth round of the season.

LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet

GERMANYGrand Prixof

01Round

CIRCUIT OF SACHSENRING 2008

67

3.671 km German track with ambience temperature of 20°C and the Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V posted his best lap time of 1’21.821 on lap 26 of 27 obtaining the second row for tomorrow’s 30-lap race. De Puniet, like some other premier class riders, lost some track time this morning due to the slippery surface but then he found the correct set-up of his machine lapping consistently fast on race trim in the afternoon session.

De Puniet – 10th: “It was a “normal” first day of practices. Basically we did not find any particular problem with the bike set-up and I was able to improve my lap time in the afternoon session. We still have to fix some small things to close the gap with the firsts even though my best lap time is less than 4 tenths off Rossi’s 4th lap time. However it’s not so easy to impro-ve the lap time because this track is very tight but I feel confident for tomorrow. We tried some good rear tyres and I could run consistent laps in the 1’23 bracket. At the moment the race pace is quite good for us”.

DE PUNIET SIXTH FASTEST AT SACH-SENRING QUALIFYNG

Sachsenring, 12 July 2008: LCR Honda MotoGP Team rider Randy De Puniet made solid progress today getting the sixth fa-stest time overall in the qualifying session for the Grand Prix of Deutschland that gets underway tomorrow at 14:00 local time. After this morning damp free ses-sion, the weather improved for the 60-mi-nutes afternoon qualifying session at the

QUALIFY

68

TORRENTIAL RAIN HIT THE DEUTSCHLAND GRAND PRIX

Sachsenring, 13 July 2008: the LCR Hon-da MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet got the final 8th place in today’s 30-lap German Grand Prix at Sachsenring circuit. The tenth round of the season started today at 14:00 local time and was held in wet conditions after two days of dry practi-ces.

Rain showers hit the 3.671Km track early in the morning and the premier class ri-ders used the 25-minute warm up session to chose the correct tyres for the Ger-man race and the 27-year-old aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V set the 8th quickest time on the damp surface. Started from the 6th position, De Puniet was 8th at the end of the first lap behind Rossi but he never had the right feeling on rain tyres during the race. Stoner got his 4th 2008 victory followed by Rossi and Vermeulen.

RACE

De Puniet – 6th: “I am quite satisfied to-day because we improved the bike set-up, then my pace on race trim is very com-petitive and I also gained a good lap time on qualifiers. I shaved six tenths on race tyres compared with yesterday and this is very important. This morning the track condition was not good for the bike set-up and we decided to stay in for 30 minutes. We could get the front row but I found Na-kano in front of me during my fast lap and lost three tenths; I was a bit disappointed but this is racing and everybody tries to get the maximum on soft tyres. Tomor-row’s race will be very close and I have to do a very good start to stay with the first group”.

69

De Puniet – 8th: “It was a very hard race because we did not test in the wet in the last two days and the warm up session was held on a damp track. So we decided to start with hard compound tyres in the front and in the rear but probably we made a mistake because the rear one was too hard. Then I went out in the gravel in the first corner in the seventh lap because I lost the control of the front in the wettest part of the track. With 2 laps to go the rain became heavier and was more difficult for me to keep the position so Capirossi passed me in the last corner before the straight. Honestly I am not very happy but in these conditions the 8th place is not so bad”.

70

PA

DD

OC

Klife

72

roller-coaster style layout of the 3.610km circuit will provide an opportunity to show his potential thanks to the improvements obtained in the last races.The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V managed a sixth place last year on the Californian track which saw Stoner on the top of the podium followed by Vermeulen and Melandri. Laguna Seca GP is the last date on the calendar before the summer break.

DE PUNIET READY FOR A FUN WE-EKEND IN CALIFORNIA

Monterey, 18 July 2008: LCR Honda Mo-toGP rider Randy De Puniet is looking for-ward to a fun weekend at Laguna Seca for the U.S. Grand Prix, one of the most spec-tacular races on the MotoGP calendar. And the French rider feels the unique,

USAGrand Prix

of

11Round

CIRCUIT OF LAGUNA SECA

73

job mainly on tyre testing but was not able to set his pace ending 17th.

The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V set his quickest fast time of 1’23.955 on lap 25 of 31 in the afterno-on session improving this morning lap time of 4 tenths. However the 27-year-old, who got the si-xth place on this track last year, aims to close the gap in tomorrow’s qualifying ses-sion. Stoner set a 1’21.826 fastest lap.

De Puniet: “Things have been going bet-ter for me mid-season and my qualifying performances are becoming more consi-stent. I was unlucky at Assen because of the incident with Rossi and in Germany the conditions caught everyone out to some extent. I finished sixth here last year and I like the challenges this track throws at you. And let’s not forget there was an all-Honda podium here in 2006, so we have the potential to do well here before the summer break I think”.

DE PUNIET STRUGGLING WITH REAR GRIP AT LAGUNA SECA

Monterey, 18 July 2008: Free practice for the U.S. Grand Prix was held in cool conditions today at the Lagu-na Seca circuit, with LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet struggling with rear grip. Under clear, sunny skies with ambience temperature of 22°C at the 3.610 km Cali-fornian circuit, De Puniet concentrated his

QUALIFY

74

SECOND ROW FOR DE PUNIET AT LA-GUNA SECA

Monterey, 19 July 2008: LCR Honda Mo-toGP rider Randy De Puniet will start to-morrow’s U.S. Grand Prix from sixth posi-tion following today’s qualifying session at Laguna Seca Raceway which hosts the ele-venth round of the season. The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V clocked a 1’21.921 fastest time on Q-ty-res at the 3.610 Km American track and improved also his yesterdays’ lap time on race trim of one second. The second day of practices started out with cloudy skies and mist with air tempe-rature of 16°C (ground 24°C) and the 27-year-old struggled with rear grip ending the free session in 16th position. Luckily the weather improved for the qualifying practice and the ground temperature rose up to 36°C with De Puniet setting consi-stent and fast lap times throughout the 60-minute session. Stoner gained the pole position (1’20.700) followed by Rossi and Hayden.

RACE

De Puniet – 17th: “Honestly we did not expect to end the first day of practices in 17th position but we are struggling a lot with rear grip. We tried many tyres but it seems that only one is working properly. We used that this morning and then, af-ter 34 laps, we decided to save it for the afternoon session so I was able to do my lap time. We should improve also the bike set-up in the corner entry but the most important thing is to solve the rear grip lack. I could not open the throttle when I wanted and we tried to fix it but I do not feel comfortable yet”.

75

De Puniet – 6th: “I am very happy today and want to thank my crew for their good job. We had a tough start yesterday but we did not give up. We adjusted the bike set-up (gear ratio, engine mapping, braking stability and suspensions) and, once the grip level improved, I could lap consisten-tly fast. We solved our rear grip problems obtaining a good pace on race tyres and we are very happy about our tyres choi-ce for tomorrow’s 32-lap race. Honestly I think this race could be the interesting for me…”

76

PA

DD

OC

K

life

78

new character of the asphalt, especially as regards the bike’s front-end settings. The Frenchman improved his time from the morning session significantly, knocking over a second off his lap time to end up with a best lap of 1’59.405, set on his 11th lap in the afternoon. However two strange crashes in that afternoon session put an end to his work on the track for the day just after having set his best time. Casey Stoner (Ducati) was the fastest ri-der of the day with a 1’57.231.

DE PUNIET WORKING HARD TO RESOL-VE FRONT-END ISSUES

Brno, 15 August 2008: It was a difficult start to the weekend in the Czech Repu-blic for LCR Honda MotoGP Team and their rider Randy De Puniet. Dark clouds hung over the circuit all day, but conditions re-mained dry for the MotoGP class as De Puniet eventually finished in fourteenth po-sition overall after the two free practice sessions.With the track surface having been relaid in the off-season, the teams are having to work hard to set the machine up to the

REPUBLIC

Grand Prix

21 Round

CIRCUIT OF BRNO 2008

CZECHof

79

because of some front feeling problems, this morning free session was hit by persi-stent rain and the hour long qualifying ses-sion was ridden on a full wet surface with Stoner on the top of the timesheets with a best lap time of 2’11.657. The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V clocked his fastest lap time of 2’14.535 in the last lap of the session (8th lap) then he decided to come in as the rain became heavier.

De Puniet – 14th: “It has been a very dif-ficult start because straight from the off this morning we were struggling for front-end feel. In the first session I destroyed the front tyre and was not able to lap as I would like. Then in the afternoon I tried to change my riding style and the bike set-up, but crashed after just 4 laps - it was a very strange crash! After that I jumped onto the second bike two but crashed again after a few laps. We tried to fix it but no-thing worked properly. It has been a tough first day of practices but I know that the crew is working hard to solve the problem for tomorrow’s sessions”.

RAIN LASHES QUALIFYING SESSION AT BRNO

Brno, 16 August 2008: Qualifying for the Czech Repulic Grand Prix was run in wet conditions today with ambience tempera-ture of 12°C and the LCR Honda MotoGP racer Randy De Puniet made solid progress ending the day 7th and will start from the third row for tomorrow’s 22-lap race. After yesterday’s sunny opening day when De Puniet managed fourteenth in the dry

QUALIFY

80

De Puniet – 7th: “This is a good result for me and the Team because we were not very fast in these conditions especially this morning. We made some adjustments to the bike setting and the feeling with the tyres improved a lot in the afternoon but was impossible to do better than this. At the end I lost the second row but I do not feel worried about that. I am the first Mi-chelin rider on the grid in these conditions and this is positive. The weather forecast for tomorrow is for dry conditions so we must use the 20-minute warm up session to find the right front tyre for the race”.

DE PUNIET OUT OF LUCK AT BRNO GP

Brno, 17 August 2008: after yesterdays good qualifying session result on the wet, LCR Honda MotoGP racer Randy De Puniet made a good start from the 7th place for the 22-lap race at Brno track but crashed out on lap six. Luckily the Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V escaped unhurt from the incident and rejoined the twelfth round of the season ending 16th. De Puniet qualified 11th in this morning warm up session which was held in dry conditions with the 27-year-old struggling a lot for front-end feel. After a good start from the third row Randy tried to set his rhythm but after few laps he started to loose the front again. The premier class riders will be back on track tomorrow for two testing-day. Rossi won the race ahead 149.133 fans followed by Elias and Capirossi.

RACE

81

De Puniet – 16th: “Honestly I am very an-gry. I made a good start but could not race as I would like because struggled a lot for front-end feel. Many riders passed me in the corner entry and in the first laps I lost the front a few times. So I decided to slow down but the feeling with the front was very bad. When I tried to pass Pedrosa in the chicane I crashed out in the gravel but rejoined the race. I suffered the same crash of Friday afternoon and, although my crew worked hard to find a solution, we did not solve the problem with the front tyre. I want to forget this bad week end”.

82

PA

DD

OC

K

life

84

Honda RC212V got the 12th position in this morning first free session trying to find the base set-up on these conditions and testing different tyres. The LCR crew made some adjustments together with Michelin and Öhlins and the 27-year-old completed 27 laps clocking his fastest lap time of 1’35.620 less than nine tenths off the fastest lap of the day set by Stoner (1’34.806).

POSITIVE OPENING DAY AT MISANO FOR DE PUNIET

Misano, 29 August 2008: In a hot and crowded opening day of San Marino and Ri-viera di Rimini Grand Prix, LCR Honda Mo-toGP racer Randy de Puniet set the fourth fastest time at the 4.226 km track. Both free practices were held in sunny condi-tions with an air temperature of 32°C, and the premier class riders had to battle hard against the hot conditions. The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod

Grand Prix

31Round

CIRCUIT OF LAGUNA SECA 2008REPUBLICS.MARINOof

85

TS VISION. Il bello della Video Comunicazione

DID DIGITAL SIGN BOARD 46” - 57”(Touch Option)

Scopri il design ra� nato e la versatilità delle nostre soluzioni

La passione per la tecnologia non ha con� ni: apre nuovi scenari, invita a sperimen-tare e o� re occasioni per metterci alla prova.TechnologyShop si presenta al mercato dell’Home Entertainment e della Video Comunicazione con il brand TS VISION, una linea innovativa di prodotti e soluzioni di qualità a prezzi realmente competitivi.TV LCD, totem, videowall e touch screen ultrasottili e interattivi pensati per catturare l’attenzione e comunicare con i tuoi clienti in modo rapido ed e� cace.

TS VISION Brand powered by TechnologyShop

Tutte le applicazioni già realizzate su

www.tsvision.it

HONDA 210x280.indd 1 6-03-2009 11:23:03

86

Dalla tecnologia dei famosi gruppi termici a sette travasi M.H.R. Trofeo Malossi Scooter, hanno preso forma i nuovi gruppi termici Big Bore Ø 50, corsa 39, 2/39,3 e 44, studiati per le motorizzazioni Minarelli e Piaggio.Tutti i piloti, entusiasti della novità, hanno voluto testarli. I risultati non si sono fatti attendere: l’incremento della potenza e l’af dabilità assoluta hanno dimostrato, per l’ennesima volta, la qualità del prodotto e la professionalità dell’azienda Malossi.

Caratteristiche tecniche

· Cilindro a sette travasi, H2O, fuso per gravità in lega di alluminio boni cato, canna con riporto cermetal levigata con utensili al diamante· Alesaggio 50· Pistone monofascia rinforzato a testa bombata· Segmento Ø 50 x 0,8 in ghisa KDN5· Testa scomposta in lega di alluminio primario boni cata con sistema di convogliamento del circuito di raffreddamento calcolato e orientato

Prodotti riservati esclusivamente alle competizioni nei luoghi ad esse destinate secondo le disposizioni delle competenti autorità sportive.Decliniamo ogni responsabilità per l’uso improprio.

Big Bore

87

free session, the 27-year-old set consi-stent and fast lap times throughout the 60-minute session and qualified as the fa-stest Honda. The Frenchman set a 1’34.236 quickest time on lap 25 of 26 less than ten tenths off the fastest lap of the day and will start from the second row for tomorrow’s 28-lap race that gets underway at 14:00.

De Puniet – 4th: “This is a positive ope-ning day for me and the Team. I like this track and when I came out this morning we started to work on tyres as the asphalt temperature was high but honestly we did not find the best choice on these condi-tions. Then, for the afternoon’s session, we made some adjustments on engine brake, traction control and tyres getting a good overall package. After that I felt more comfortable on the bike and could run as I would like. Everybody in the Team did a good job and at the end I gained the 4th posi-tion. Probably I could improve my lap time but I feel quite satisfied now and hope to continue like this”.

DE PUNIET SHINES AT MISANO GP QUALIFYING

Misano, 30 August 2008: Qualifying for the Grand Prix of San Marino and Riviera di Rimini was run in sunny conditions today with ambience temperature of 31°C and the LCR Honda MotoGP racer Randy De Puniet made solid progress ending the day 4th behind the front row riders Stoner, Rossi and Lorenzo. After some set-up changes to his Miche-lin-shod Honda RC212V in this morning

QUALIFY

88

DE PUNIET CRASHED OUT IN THE FIRST LAP OF MISANO GP

Misano, 31 August 2008: Under sunny skies the Grand Prix of San Marino and Ri-viera di Rimini was run at a very hot pace today but LCR Honda MotoGP Team rider Randy De Puniet did not finish the race crashing out on lap one. After yesterday’s good qualifying when De Puniet got the 4th quickest time of the day aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V, the 27-ye-ar-old made a good start from the second row and was fifth when he went out in the gravel. Luckily Randy escaped unhurt from the ac-cident suffering just a small injury on his right arm. The French racer and his crew will be back on track tomorrow for one testing day and will fly to US for Indianopolis GP on the 14 of September. Rossi won his home race followed by his team mate Lorenzo and Elias.

RACE

De Puniet – 4th: “Today was a very good day for us. This morning we worked on chas-sis set-up and suspension set-up to find the right base on these conditions. Then, in the afternoon session, we compared a few rear tyres options he have got finding a good rear tyre for tomorrow’s race.I had a very good flying lap in the last lap which moved us to the 4th position on the grid. This race will be very close and it’s impor-tant to start from the first places in order to close the gap to the fastest riders. I feel happy because qualified as the fastest Honda behind three factory bikes and this means that my crew made an excellent work together with Michelin. I really want to thank everybody for their efforts”.

89

De Puniet - crashed: “I am very disappoin-ted for me and the Team. The whole week end has been very positi-ve and the 4th position on the grid was a good occasion for me. I made a good start from the second row and knew that I could get a positive result as my pace was con-sistently fast throughout the week end. I was fifth when I went wide in the last corner loosing the rear control. My right arm aches a bit but will be fine for tomor-row’s test. The Team made an excellent job this week end and I want to thank them for their efforts”.

90

PA

DD

OC

K

life

92

morning and the premier class riders had a longer first free session to study the 4.216 Km of the American track. Riding the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V nr. 14, Randy de Puniet focused his work mainly on tyre testing on the rain-lashed and slippery track clocking his quickest lap time of 1’55.072 despite the right arm pain due to the Misano crash. The fastest time overall today was set by Australian rider Anthony West (1’53.034).

RAIN SLASHED OPENING FREE PRACTI-CES AT INDIANAPOLIS

Indianapolis, 12 September 2008: LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet clo-cked the 12th fastest lap time at today’s opening free practice sessions at Indiana-polis Speedway race track which hosts the 14th round of the calendar. Both sessions were conducted on wet track as the cir-cuit was hit by torrential rain since this

INDIANAPOLISGrand Prixof

41Round

CIRCUIT OF LAGUNA SECA 2008

93

dar. Yesterday, in full rain conditions, the Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Hon-da RC212V set the 12th quickest time of the day but today’s conditions were totally different and Randy had to start again his set-up work testing the bike in the dry. The 27-year-old was again a strong per-former clocking his quickest lap time of 1’41.492 gaining the second row for the 8th time this season. Today’s poleman Rossi set his fastest lap time of 1’40.776 followed by Stoner and Lorenzo.

De Puniet – 12th: “Obviously it’s real-ly hard in these conditions. We hoped to get some dry track time to learn the cir-cuit and to test our bike but it’s the same for everybody. We had a good selection of tyres and we just need to find the best choice for us. Our position is not related to our potential but I decided to use this first exit to learn the track. the track was extremely slippery and preferred to take it easy. The first part is a real disaster bur after that I could easily ride as I would like. The right arm still aches a lot but I did not take any painkiller; if the things go worse I will take some tomorrow for the qualifying session”.

DE PUNIET MANAGED 6th PLACE AT INDIANAPPOLIS QUALIFYING

Indianapolis, 13 September 2008: The sun shined at Indianapolis Speedway race track today for final qualifying and the LCR Hon-da MotoGP Team racer Randy De Puniet qualified in 6th position for tomorrow’s 28-lap race. After yesterday’s torrential rain, blue skies and ambience temperature of 34°C welcomed the premier class riders today at the spectacular American circuit which hosts the 14th round of the calen-

QUALIFY

94

HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WIND HIT INDIAPOLIS INAUGURAL GP

Indianapolis, 14 September 2008: after yesterdays good qualifying session result on the dry, LCR Honda MotoGP racer Ran-dy De Puniet started from the 6th place for the 28-lap race at the spectacular In-dianapolis circuit that has been hit by he-avy rain and strong speed because of the path of Hurricane Ike. The race was red-flagged at 7 laps to go with Rossi in first place and after the Race Direction’s decision the American GP was stopped because of some damaged airfen-ces and slippery conditions of the track surface. The Frenchman aboard the Miche-lin-shod Honda RC212V started from the second row but he lost five places ending the first lap in 11th position. After that Randy struggled with lack of grip for the whole race and managed to finish the race safely.Today’s winner is Rossi followed by Hayden and Lorenzo.

RACE

De Puniet – 6th: “I am very happy about my result because it’s not easy to find the right set-up on a new track. Yesterday we had both sessions in the wet and this mor-ning the track surface was still damp. For the final qualifying the track was comple-tely dry but I could easily ride as I would like. When I came out on race tyres my pace was consistently fast and I made a good job on qualifiers as well. This is a very positive result if we consider that I miss some power in the straight but thanks to the adjustments we did this morning I will start from the second row once again. Starting from the 6th position will help me in case of heavy rain but I do not feel wor-ried about the bad weather because we have got a good pace in both conditions”.

95

De Puniet – 13th: “It was a tough day to-day. We started with a quite good warm up in the dry and we were optimistic for a dry race. But the conditions were very diffiicult before the start and I did not get a good start loosing five places in the first lap. I struggled from the beginning with lack of grip both front and rear but I tried the best I could, trying not to make any mistake. Overall I tried to survive the race and it’s not very clear why we had such a poor grip but we must find a solution for next race in Japan which can potentially be wet”.

96

PA

DD

OC

K

life

98

the small fracture of the right wrist. After this morning first free session in the wet, the Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V, completed 25 laps in the afternoon session on dry surface clocking his fastest lap time of 1’49.149. Randy and the LCR squad worked to fine tune the base set-up testing some rear tyres in the last part of the afternoon session and the 27-year-old could ride as he would like de-spite the ache of the right wrist.

HOT AND HUMID WEATHER AT MOTEGI OPENING DAY OF PRACTICES

Motegi, 26 September: Hot, rain and high humidity made for energy-sapping condi-tions in today’s free practice for the Ja-panese Grand Prix at the Motegi Circuit which will be celebrating its 10th anni-versary of GP racing this week end. LCR Honda racer Randy de Puniet completed the two sessions in 10th overall despite

JAPANGrand Prixof

51Round

CIRCUIT OF MOTEGI 2008

99

morning’s 8th position in the free practi-ce, De Puniet worked on suspensions set-ting and tyres choice to improve his pace clocking his best lap time of 1’46.554 (on lap 20 of 23). The 27-year-old made good progress on race set-up showing his po-tential around the Japanese track even if he made a small mistake on qualifiers in the last minutes of the session loosing the second row.Today’s pole man Lorenzo set the quickest lap time of 1’45.543 followed by Stoner and Hayden.

De Puniet – 10th: “Obviously it was a dif-ficult day for everybody as we had only one session in the dry. In the beginning of the afternoon session there were some water patches on the track and we took some time to “feel” the surface. After that we found a good base set-up but we still have to adjust the chassis and the engine map-ping for tomorrow. We had two long runs in the last part of the afternoon session and the rear tyres worked well. I feel confident for tomorrow’s qualifying session even if my wrist is not at 100%. Anyway I under-stood my limit today and with some pain killers I can easily ride as I would like”.

DE PUNIET 8th FASTEST AT MOTEGI GP QUALIFYING

Motegi, 27 September 2008: LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet rode his Michelin-shod Honda RC212V to 8th pla-ce today in the qualifying session at the 4.801m Twin Ring Motegi circuit in readi-ness for the tomorrow’s 24-lap race. Af-ter yesterday’s morning rain shower, to-day’s both premier class sessions were dry with ambient temperature of 25°C whi-le the asphalt rose up to 40°. After this

QUALIFY

100

DE PUNIET MANAGED TO FINISH 12th AT MOTEGI GP

Motegi, 28 September 2008: after ye-sterdays good qualifying session result, LCR Honda MotoGP racer Randy De Pu-niet made a good start from the 8th pla-ce for the 24-lap race at Twin Ring Mo-tegi race track getting the 12th position overall. The fifteenth round of the season, which saw Rossi winning the 2008 World Championship, started today at 14:00 local time and was held in dry conditions although a threatening sky welcomed the premier class riders this morning.

The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V nr. 14 did a good start from the third row but was trapped in the first corner ending the first lap in 14th po-sition. After that Randy tried to set his pace but struggled a lot with rear grip and, in the last laps of the race, his injured wri-st started to ache a lot. The 27-year-old managed to finish the race but he honestly expected a better result at the Japanese circuit.

RACE

De Puniet – 8th: “It was a good day but not perfect! On race trim we improved the grip feeling since this morning but I am not totally satisfied about the rear grip. I had a too many slides and need more ini-tial grip. We tried to adjust the setting getting some improvements but it’s not enough yet. However I feel pretty satisfied as lapped consistently fast on race tyres. Unfortunately I made a small mistake on qualifiers at turn 9 loosing three tenths and the second row. Overall third row is not bad but we need to find more rear grip in tomorrow’s warm up session. My wrist still aches a lot so will get some painkillers for the 24 laps”.

101

De Puniet – 12th: “Honestly we expected a better race here. I made a good start but in the first corner Dovizioso braked to late and went a bit wide. I tried to pass him in the inside but some riders overto-ok me because did not have enough corner speed. So I lost few places finishing the first lap in 14th place. After that I tried to remain concentrated but the bike started to slide. However at 4 laps to go I caught Hopkins and Toseland but was impossible for me to pass them. Besides my wrist started to ache a lot and did my best to finish the race”.

102

PA

DD

OC

K

life

104

Then, rain-shower fell in the afternoon at the 4.448 Km racetrack (the asphalt tem-perature was just 15°C) so the premier class riders focused their job mainly on tyre testing. The 27-year-old aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V set impres-sive lap times in the wet but made a mi-stake at 10 minutes to go crashing out in turn eight. Luckily Randy escaped unhurt from the incident and will be back on track tomorrow for the qualifying session that is likely to be run in wet conditions.

DE PUNIET FIFTH OVERALL ON DAY ONE AT CHILLY PHILLIP ISLAND

Phillip Island, 3 October: Changeable spring weather was the main factor in today’s opening free practice for the Australian Grand Prix, with LCR Honda MotoGP ri-der Randy de Puniet finishing fifth overall. The Frenchman posted his fastest lap of 1’31.070 in the morning first free ses-sion which was held in the dry with track temperature of 27°C. .

AUSTRALIAGrand Prixof

61Round

CIRCUIT OF PHILLIP ISLAND 2008

105

After yesterday’s good performance in the dry (5th position), the Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V set im-pressive lap times in the afternoon quali-fying at the 4.448 km race track clocking his quickest lap time of 1’28.808 less than one tenth off the front row time. Randy is the second placed Honda in the grid for to-morrow’s 27 lap-race that gets underway at 16:00 local time.Pole position was claimed by Stoner on Du-cati followed by Lorenzo and Hayden.

De Puniet – 5th: “This morning I lapped consistently fast in the dry and we found a good overall package. I felt pretty satisfied about my pace but in the afternoon the conditions changed completely. Anyway we started with good lap times in the wet as well even if the rear tyre was to soft and I had to come in after few laps to chan-ge it. When I came out to improve my lap time, we used a harder compound in the rear and I made a mistake in turn 8. I pu-shed to much and the tyre was not warm enough so lost the rear and went out in the grass. I want to give my apologies to the Team because it was also dangerous for my wrist”.

DE PUNIET 4TH FASTEST IN THE QUA-LIFYING AT “THE ISLAND”

Phillip Island, 4 October 2008: Qualifying for the Grand Prix of Australia was run in dry conditions today with ambience tem-perature of 18°C (the asphalt temperatu-re rose up to 30°C) and the LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet made solid progress ending the day 4th gaining the second row for the ninth time this sea-son.

QUALIFY

106

DE PUNIET NINTH AT “THE ISLAND” GP

Phillip Island, 5 October: In hard fought race LCR Honda MotoGP racer Randy de Puniet finished ninth in today’s Australian Grand Prix at a sunny Phillip Island ahead 50.541 MotoGP fans. Today’s ambience temperature rose up to 18°C and the 27-year-old was again a strong performer in this morning warm up session gaining the third quickest lap time (1’30.862).

Started from the 4th position for the 27-lap race at the 4.448 Km race track, De Puniet was 8th at the end of the first lap and started a close battle with Edwards. The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V expected a better result but he feels satisfied about the overall package and is boosting his confidence ahead Malaysian GP. The race was won by home hero Casey Stoner.

RACE

De Puniet – 4th: “I am very happy about the result and the job we made for tomor-row’s race. We tested different rear race tyres with good results but we still have to make our choice for the race. However my pace was consistently fast and I can say that we have got the potential to finish in the top eight positions. I feel satisfied about my performance on Q-tyres and missed the front row for one tenth only but this 4th place is a very positive result for me and the crew”.

107

De Puniet – 9th: “We could finish in a bet-ter position but after 5 laps I got stocked behind Colin and could not pass him for 8 laps. Then, when I caught him, the gap to the front was to wide and tried to keep my rhythm. At the end Colin overtook me in the straight at 2 laps to go. Anyway I am pretty satisfied about the job we made during the whole week end be-cause the overall package was good and we had the chance to fight for the top five positions”.

108

PA

DD

OC

Klife

life

110

ved his pace in the afternoon session clo-cking his best lap time of 2’03.474. With ambience temperature of 33°C and humidity level at 48%, the premier class riders focused their work mainly on tyre testing because some light rain fell at the 5.548 Km circuit during the second ses-sion. The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V set a good rhythm around the Malaysian track despite a small crash in this morning first session.

DE PUNIET IN GOOD FORM AT MALAY-SIA GP OPENING DAY

Kuala Lumpur, 17 October 2008: In warm and humid but overcast conditions, LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy de Puniet fini-shed ninth overall on the first day of free practice for Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix. After having achieved the 5th posi-tion in this morning first free session with a best lap time of 2’03.535, Randy impro-

MALAYSIAGrand Prixof

71Round

CIRCUIT OF SEPANG 2008

111

sion the track surface was still damp.Af-ter this morning’s 11th position in the free practice, De Puniet worked on tyres choice to improve his pace clocking his best lap time of 2’03.110. The 27-year-old made good progress on race set-up but struggled a bit on qualifiers because of the slippery surface after the tropical storm. Randy will start from the third row for the Malaysian GP that gets underway at 14:00 local time. Pedrosa gained the pole position followed by Rossi and Loren-zo.

De Puniet – 9th: “It was a positive first day of practices and had a good feeling on the bike despite the small crash I suffered this morning. This afternoon’s conditions were a bit wor-se because of the rain but in the end I could ride as I would like. We improved the ove-rall package including the tyres and made a good run with a harder compound one so I feel quite satisfied. Honestly I think we have the potential to be in the top-five positions tomorrow”.

DEMANDING QUALIFYING SESSION AT SEPANG TRACK FOR DE PUNIET

Sepang, 18 October 2008: LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet rode his Michelin-shod Honda RC212V to 9th pla-ce today in the qualifying session at the 5.548 km Sepang circuit in readiness for the tomorrow’s 21-lap race. After this morning rain shower, the pre-mier class qualifying session was held in the dry with ambient temperature of 29°C even though the first minutes of the ses-

QUALIFY

112

DE PUNIET POSITIVE 1OTH AT SEPANG RACE TRACK

Sepang, 19 October 2008: LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet made a po-sitive race at the 5.548 Km Sepang cir-cuit today starting from the third row and getting the 10th final place. The penulti-mate round of the season at the Malaysian circuit was held in very hot conditions with air temperature of 39°C whilst the asphalt temperature rose up to 42°C.

The Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V qualified tenth in this mor-ning warm up session and was confident ahead the 21-lap race but Randy did not make a perfect start finishing the first lap in 13th position. Despite the tropical heat and the injured right wrist, the 27-year-old managed to finish the race in the top-ten. The LCR team will now move to Spain for the last round of the season at Valen-cia circuit.

RACE

De Puniet – 9th: “It was a strange and demanding qualifying session. We came out with wet tyres but after some laps we had to switch to cut tyres because the surface started to dry up quickly. My pace on cut tyres was pretty good and I felt comfortable with the bike overall package. Then I came out on qualifiers but couldn’t improve like I expected. I really do not why because I am usually faster than this on q-tyres but do not feel worried about it. My rhythm on race trim makes me confident for tomorrow’s race even if the weather can change every minute”.

113

De Puniet – 10th : “At the start I released the clutch to early and did a big wheeling loosing a few positions. After the first lap I started to set my rhythm and was pret-ty comfortable despite the heat. I enjoyed battling with Toseland because he pas-sed me twice and I did the same with him but at the end he crashed. Then I caught Hopkins and passed him in the fifth lap pu-shing hard to catch the first group. My pace was pretty fast but I took a big risk in the last corner at four laps to go and pre-ferred to reduce the speed. In the middle of the race my right wrist started to ache a lot and was very hard for me to change directions and to brake in the corners”.

114

PA

DD

OC

K

life

116

for Sunday’s 30-lap race.The 27-yeard-old struggled with rear grip and right wrist pain in this morning fully wet first free session at the 4.005 Km race track but improved his pace in the afternoon’s session clocking his quickest time of 1’46.807. American rider Nicky Hayden set the fastest time of the day (1’45.777).

DE PUNIET SEVENTH FASTEST AT VA-LENCIA GP OPENING DAY

Valencia, 24 October: LCR Honda MotoGP Team racer Randy de Puniet began to set up his Honda machine with the seventh fastest time in today’s wet free practi-ce sessions at the Ricardo Tormo circuit which hosts the ultimate round of 2008 season this week end.In cool and rainy autumn conditions, Randy worked through his Michelin race tyre and set-up options aboard his Honda RC212V

VALENCIAN Grand Prix

81Round

CIRCUIT OF RICARDO TORMO

COMMUNITY of

2008

117

Spanish track with ambience temperatu-re of 19°C and the Frenchman aboard the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V posted his best lap time of 1’32.572 on lap 25 of 27 obtaining the second row for tomorrow’s 30-lap race. De Puniet, like some other premier class riders, crashed out because of the slippery conditions but he escaped unhurt from the incident gaining the se-cond row for the tenth time this year. Stoner set the fastest lap time (1’31.502) followed by Pedrosa and Hayden.

De Puniet – 7th: “The weather is very bad and it’s not easy to ride in these condi-tions. This morning, in the wet, I decided to avoid any unnecessary risk as my wrist still aches a lot so we made only 6 laps. Then in the afternoon we faced some rear grip issues but we could not really fixed them but, after some suspension adjustments, my pace in the wet started to be more consistent. I am really pleased with the overall package but I am worried about my wrist because it’s very hard for me to ride in these conditions”.

DE PUNIET SIXTH FASTEST FOR THE 2008 SEASON FINAL QUALYFYING AT VALENCIA TRACK

Valencia, 25 October: LCR Honda MotoGP Team rider Randy De Puniet made solid pro-gress today getting the sixth fastest time overall in the qualifying session for the Co-munitat Valenciana Grand Prix that gets underway tomorrow at 14:00 local time. After this morning damp free session, the weather improved for the 60-minutes af-ternoon qualifying session at the 4.005 km

QUALIFY

118

DE PUNIET OUT OF LUCK IN THE LAST 2008 GP AT VALENCIA CIRCUIT

Valencia, 26 October: Under sunny skies the last GP of the 2008 season at Valen-cia race track was run at a very hot pace today with ambience temperature of 26°C and LCR Honda MotoGP Team rider Randy De Puniet made a big effort to finish the 30-lap race despite the pain on his right wrist.

After yesterdays good qualifying session result, the Frenchman aboard the Miche-lin-shod Honda RC212V started from the second row for the tenth time this year but went wide in the first lap loosing many positions. In the middle of the race Ran-dy’s injured wrist started to ache a lot and the 27-year-old managed to finish the race in 15th position. Today’s winner is Stoner followed by Pedrosa and Rossi. The premier class riders will be back on track tomor-row for two testing-day.

RACE

De Puniet – 6th: “It was a good last qua-lifying of the season but honestly I was ex-pecting something better. Unfortunately I lost the front on my second run out after 6 laps but luckily I saved my wrist from the incident. After that we lost some track time but we fixed our tyres choice for the race and started to set good lap times on qualifiers. Starting from the second row is very important as nobody really knows the weather for tomorrow. I feel a bit worried about my wrist but will do the best to get the best result so far”.

119

De Puniet – 15th: “I am very disappointed because I wanted to get a better result in the last race of the season. In the first lap I made a small mistake and had to go wide to avoid Toseland. At the end of the first lap I was the last rider and lost twelve se-conds from the leader. After that I started to push but was impossibile to come back. My wrist ached a lot and I did my best to finish the race. Honestly I expected so-mething better because my pace om race trim was fast but now it’s time to work for next season. I want to thank my crew, the Honda and Michelin staff for their good job during this championship”.

120

PA

DD

OC

K

life

2008 Season Highlights

Documents

Transcript of 2008 Season Highlights