After the opening day of practice for the Indianapolis Grand Prix, the major cause for celebration at Pramac Racing was nothing to do with their on track performance. Randy de Puniet has been battling to overcome the injury sustained at Laguna Seca but was delighted to report he was back to 100% fitness on Friday.
“The best thing about today is that I don't have any more pain in my body. My back feels much better and I can now use my full body to move the bike. I am at 100% and very happy about it! At the moment the tenth position is quite a good result but I hope to improve during the weekend. The main problem we are fighting against is the front tyre: the new asphalt is a bit hard on the tyre and we have to understand how to solve this problem otherwise it will be difficult to finish the race.”
The Frenchman finished the day in tenth with teammate Loris Capirossi in 14th. The experienced Italian was satisfied with the set-up of his Ducati and is hopeful of a strong race on Sunday.
“I am quite satisfied with how we built the bike in the second session. Certainly we can still improve a lot for the upcoming practices. The grip of the tires is not the best but unlike other riders this should not be so bad. This is a positive thing that could come back to our advantage during Sunday’s race.”
