LCR keen to keep hold of De Puniet
Added on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
LCR keen to keep hold of De Puniet
LCR Honda have expressed their desire to keep hold of French rider Randy de Puniet and have explored the possibility of running a second bike in 2010.
The privateer Honda team, who provided the springboard for Casey Stoner’s MotoGP career, believe that they can fend-off reported interest from other teams in the MotoGP paddock including Tech3 Yamaha to hang-on to the Frenchman.
De Puniet has impressed on the LCR Honda in his second season with the team, with the highlight undoubtedly being a third place finish in difficult conditions at Donington Park back in July. A fourth place finish in Jerez and further top ten finishes in Qatar, Mugello, Barcelona, Assen, Laguna Seca and Brno have only added to the 28-year-old’s stock.
But team boss Lucio Cecchinello has claimed that they will be doing everything in their power to hang on to their man, with plans seemingly discussed about pairing him with a second rider.
“Randy compared to last year is much more mature,” Cecchinello told the official MotoGP website. “We would like to continue with him in the future.
“In general if we look at our results this year compared to the past, they are definitely better. This year we could even reach the podium, sometimes finish in the top five or top six, which is a very good result for us.
“Of course in the last races we have not so much luck because Randy’s injury still has some pain. But in general, we are happy, honestly we are happy. The bike is definitely better, and we are happy with the one tyre rule in MotoGP.”
De Puniet currently stands ninth in the rider’s standings, a vast improvement on the 15th position that he secured last year and Cecchinello is looking for a strong set of results over the last four rounds of the season.
“We have to be realistic, the first five or six riders are very, very strong, with very good bikes,” he added.
“I believe that after that we have the potential to finish the race with all of the other riders, and hopefully stay in the top seven or eight positions in the championship.”
