De Puniet cites Pedrosa as main title rival

Randy De Puniet admitted that victory at Catalunya made up for his bad luck in the previous round at Mugello and confirmed his belief that Daniel Pedrosa would be his main rival for the 250cc World Championship title.

The Frenchman missed the podium for the only time this season in Italy when he suffered a cylinder failure in the final corner but was back to his best in Spain, keeping his championship lead just out of Pedrosa's reach with a thrilling last-lap overtaking manoeuvre which sealed his first victory of the year.

"Sunday's race was a bit of payback after a positive start to the season," commented De Puniet after a day of testing alongside his Spanish rival and other factory riders at Catalunya on Monday.

"As I have said many times, my objective is the World Championship and this victory means I have an extra five points over Pedrosa, who I think is going to be my main rival for the title. The important thing is to keep going like this from now until the summer break.

"During this test we've tried a few things to try and develop the engine and also some new chassis solutions. It's just a case of trying to squeeze a bit more out of the bike, even though it is obviously already very competitive. I have to keep working – both on the bike and on my riding."