Alex Lowes believes the Chang International Circuit will bring out the best in his riding and is confident of a successful weekend in Thailand. The Briton was quickest in Friday practice and believes the physical challenge posed by the new venue and its climate will play to his strengths later in the weekend.
“Today has been good! It’s always nice to come to a new track, to learn the layout and try to understand the challenges of each corner. I really like the mid-section – you have to be quite physical on the bike which suits my style quite a bit. It’s been a good day, we’ve worked hard and I’ve done a lot of laps, completing two 10-lap runs in the last session, but it’s only Friday and the times are going to get a lot quicker so we’ll see what happens. The heat is obviously hard for everyone, and it’s going to be tough on the tyres but I’m enjoying it! I enjoyed it in Australia even though we didn’t get the results we deserved and I’m enjoying it again here. Thanks to the lads for working really hard, I’ll keep trying and see if I can get some good results on Sunday.”
Randy de Puniet doesn’t share the same confidence after ending the opening day in thirteenth spot, a second and a half behind his Voltcom Crescent Suzuki teammate. The Frenchman explained that a series of problems halted his progress and admits he is still in the process of learning the Chang International Circuit.
“I’m not that happy with the first day here as I struggled quite a bit. This morning we had an issue with the brake feeling so it was difficult to stop the bike, we fixed this but I had another issue with the setting this afternoon so it was difficult for me to be consistent with my laps, which is why the position is not as good. If we fix these two problems it will be much, much better but for now it is difficult for me to learn the new track and understand the GSX-R. Tomorrow I hope to fix the issues and concentrate on my riding style and improve the overall performance ready for the races.”
