LCR Honda’s Randy De Puniet will start tomorrows Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi from 7th on the grid. The Frenchman grabbed a result that sees him as the 2nd fastest Honda rider on the grid, with the sole Repsol Honda ahead on pole.
After making some changes to his setup after FP3 to make the bike stronger on track, De Puniet was a happy man, seeing as it seems as though he is back on form. “It seems we found the right adjustments and I could finally ride as I did in the first part of the season before the bad injury.”
“The team made the right changes working on chassis set up especially on hard braking and we have solved the rear grip issues so my race pace is pretty good at the moment. Probably I could be faster than this on qualifiers but 7th spot on the grid is positive and in my opinion it's more important to be consistent on race trim.”
But, there is the decision of what tyres to use in the race tomorrow in order to maximise the grid position. “We still have to choose the rear tyre for tomorrows race but I am pleased with the bike overall set up.”
De Puniet is probably one of the only riders hoping for the rain that has been forecast to turn up. “The weather is the only uncertainty but I am always quite fast in the wet”
