MIXED FORTUNES FOR KAWASAKI AT LE MANS
 The French Grand Prix ended in disappointment for Kawasaki rider,
Randy de Puniet, when he crashed out on the eighth lap, having taken
his first ever lead in a MotoGP race in front of his home crowd.
After
a difficult start from eighth on the grid, de Puniet was pushed down
the order but soon fought back, ploughing his way through the field in
the early laps to take a confident lead, much to the pleasure of his
countrymen, who were cheering him around the Bugatti Circuit at Le Mans.
The
race was officially declared wet but de Puniet, like the rest of the
riders, began on slick tyres. The weather worsened as the race
progressed and, just he was about to pull into his pit garage to change
bikes, the 26-year-old Frenchman lost control of his 800cc Ninja ZX-RR
and ended up in the gravel. It was hugely disappointing, especially as
he’d been dicing with fellow countryman, Sylvain Guintoli, at the front
of the pack, delighting their home fans in the process.
Fonsi
Nieto, the World Superbike rider who’s been standing in for the injured
Olivier Jacque this weekend, rode heroically in what was his 100th
Grand Prix race. He completed the race despite the horrendous
conditions and lack of familiarity with Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR.
Numerous riders crashed out during the 28-lap race, enabling Nieto to
finish in 11th place, with a total time of 51’50.572 and earning him
five championship points!
Due to his crash, Randy sustained a
minor injury to his shoulder but otherwise came out unscathed. Unable
to improve on his 19 championship points, he moves down the leader
board to 14th place, overall.
After a testing weekend at Le
Mans, the team are looking forward to going to Italy in a fortnight,
when MotoGP returns to Mugello for one of the biggest races in the
calendar.
FONSI NIETO
Position: 11th
"Conditions
couldn't really have been worse for my MotoGP debut than they were
today; it was possibly the most difficult race of my life, but as an
experience it was definitely worth it. Today was also my 100th Grand
Prix start; so to finish the race with five championship points was a
nice present. The rain started while we were sat on the grid, and it
was at this point that I decided to take is steady to make sure I
finished the race, and hopefully in the points. This is what the team
asked me to do and I did it. The experience of going into the pits to
switch bikes was pretty unique, although I was a little bit nervous
because I didn't want to make any mistakes. I made sure I kept a safety
margin from the start of the race as my first target was to learn as
much as I could, by completing as many laps as possible and bringing
the bike home. We achieved this objective. The welcome I received from
everyone in the team has been amazing, and they have made me feel at
home from the start. I would like to thank them for all they have done
for me this weekend."
RANDY DE PUNIET
Position: DNF
"I
am so disappointed and I'm sorry for my crew, the team, Kawasaki and
Bridgestone as they have all worked so hard. The race was declared wet
from the start, but I think we all opted to start on slick tyres
because the rain was not so heavy, just a few spots, and you can never
be sure what will happen in these conditions. Once again I had some
problems from the start and I lost some places in the run to the first
corner, though I was feeling confident on the bike and I was quickly
able to fight myself through the field and take the lead. And then the
rain started to fall harder and I was about to come in to switch bikes
when I crashed. Maybe I was too fast, I don't know, but the result was
that the rear came round on me at the Esses Bleus and down I went. It's
a shame because running at the front of the field in my home Grand Prix
was a fantastic feeling. But, I learnt an important lesson today and I
hope that I will have the opportunity to lead a race again this season,
when I might handle things differently. We showed today that we're in
good shape and now we must look to securing a good result in the next
race at Mugello."
MICHAEL BARTHOLEMY
Kawasaki Competition Manager
"We
came to Le Mans with high expectations of Randy, because we knew our
Ninja ZX-RR would be competitive here. Early on in the race it looked
like Randy was going to fulfil these expectations; he was confident on
the bike and very aggressive in carving his way through to the front of
the field. Unfortunately he either got a bit too overconfident or
misread the worsening conditions, and crashed out of the race on the
lap on which he was due to return to the pits to switch to a machine
with a wet set-up. But, once again, he has shown his potential and now
he has some experience of leading a race, and we hope that the next
time he finds himself at the front of the field then he'll be able to
better handle the pressure. As for Fonsi, he came here completely cold,
never having ridden a MotoGP machine and with no experience on
Bridgestone tyres. His approach and attitude have been fantastic all
weekend, even in today's extremely difficult race conditions. It was
his first time on wet tyres, on a bike that he only rode for the first
time on Friday, and yet he showed his maturity as a rider by keeping
his head and finishing just outside the top ten. You can't fault his
performance this weekend. It is always a pleasure to come to Le Mans,
with many fans cheering us on, and it is a shame that we couldn’t give
them a better result today."
RACE RESULT
1. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 50'58.713; 2. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda Gresini +12.599; 3. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +27.347; 4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +37.328; 5. Alex Hofmann (GER) Pramac d'Antin Ducati +49.166; 6. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha Factory Racing +53.563; 7. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1'01.073; 8. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +1'21.241; 9. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Tech 3 Yamaha +1 Lap; 10. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Tech 3 Yamaha +1 Lap; 11. Fonsi Nieto (SPA) Kawasaki Racing Team +1 Lap; 12. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Factory Racing +3 Laps; DNF. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +20 Laps
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