The Pramac Ducati team of Randy De Puniet and Loris Capirossi found themselves competitive in FP3, the final free practice session before qualifying for the season opener in Qatar. The pair used the increased temperatures at the Losail circuit to test both tyre compounds, and they both found settings that suited their riding styles.
Randy De Puniet placed in a competitive 9th place, and was happy with his days work.“Today was a good day” he said.
“We tried some electronic solutions and some traction control modification for the race and we have found interesting possibilities. I made it to try for the first time the soft tires and I noticed a big difference compared to hard ones. I do not know what tires will I use to conquer the fastest lap time tomorrow, I have three soft and two hard still available, but for the race most likely I will use the hard one. We are all very close, except for the first two which seem unapproachable at this moment, and this time every thousandth of a second will be decisive tomorrow.” he continued.
Loris Capirossi was upbeat aswell. After finishing in 11th on the timesheet, he said “I must say that in general the first day of practice was difficult, but after a major change between todays two sessions, the situation is considerably improved. I am pleased with the lap time that I did in qualifying and I think tomorrow we can still gain a few tenths. The race rhythm is good and this reassures me even more to this first race of the MotoGP World Championship.”
