De Puniet and Rossi receive VIP support

Former Dutch international footballer Ronald de Boer was a special guest at last weekends Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar, where he was keeping an eye out for Honda LCRs Randy de Puniet and Fiat Yamahas Valentino Rossi.

Having spent his final playing days in Qatar, De Boer has recently retired after featuring for clubs such as FC Barcelona and Glasgow Rangers in a distinguished career. He made his name in his native Holland with Ajax, winning the 1995 Champions League with the Amsterdam club and amassing 67 international caps.

His interest in MotoGP came about during his time in Barcelona when he became friendly with former World Championship rider Carlos Checa - the experienced Catalan who departed from Grand Prix racing at the end of last season.

De Boer told motogp.com: It started a few years ago when Carlos Checa was riding, hes from the Barcelona area and we became friends. Id met him at the Barcelona (Montmelo) circuit and then he came here two years ago (Qatar) and we met up, when I was in the paddock.

Now Im with Sabri Lamouchi here, he is a footballer from France who is friends with Randy (de Puniet), so now Im supporting Randy.

When asked who most impressed him of the current MotoGP field, De Boer was looking no further than five-time MotoGP title winner Rossi, saying: I think what he does with a bike is amazing, especially when people talk about what he can do and how he switched over to Yamaha. Hes great to see.