Motegi, 24 April: Low temperature and cloudy sky welcomed the premier class riders today at  opening free practice for the Japanese Grand Prix at the Motegi Circuit which hosts the second round of the season. The 4.801 km track was built as a Honda track and the HRC riders have the added motivation for a good performance on the 50th anniversary of the manufacturer’s first entry into the World Championship.

LCR Honda racer Randy de Puniet riding the Honda RC212V no. 14 completed the first session 16th overall clocking his fastest lap time of 1’50.669 (on lap 17 of 18). Randy and the LCR squad worked to fine tune the base set-up testing some tyres as the forecast for tomorrow predicts rain.

De Puniet – 16th – 1’50.669

De Puniet – 16th: “Today’s conditions were not very good and the track surface was to cold. I started on a harder front tyre but after some laps my feeling was strange and decided to change it. After that I felt more comfortable but the bike was “hard” to ride and could not lap as I would like. At the end I made a mistake because I thought it was my last lap so I missed one lap loosing and several places. However I think that the lap time is not so bad considering the track conditions. We must improve the suspension set-up but we are not very far from the right setting. I am a bit worried about the weather conditions for the rest of the week end”.