De Puniet pleased by afternoon improvement

LCR Honda rider Randy De Puniet was proudly displaying a special red, white and blue French national flag livery on the opening day of his home GP and was content with the improvements he and his team achieved between the morning and afternoon free practice sessions.

With a new clutch from HRC incorporated into his Michelin-shod Honda RC212V, the 27 year-old French rider concentrated on finding the best set-up for the `stop-and-go´ track of Le Mans, which he knows so well – ultimately recording the eighth best time of the day with a 1´35.073 lap, as he cut well over a second from his morning time.

`Today was not so bad,´ De Puniet told motogp.com. `The morning was a little bit difficult because we had a some problems with the rear and the front of the machine to do with the tyres. We used a softer tyre and I wasn´t confident. This afternoon we improved the suspension and we tried a harder compound and I feel a lot more comfortable. I improved my lap time and we did a good job between the morning and the afternoon so I am happy.´

Noting the benefits of the update to his 800cc Honda prototype, the satellite rider commented, `The new clutch is not bad, we have less friction and the bike is more stable. This is a good thing, especially here where there are a lot of braking points.´