Randy de Puniet’s appearance at the MotoGP Test in Qatar saw the Frenchman endure many improvements on his RC212V of the LCR Honda squad, the two nights at the Losail International Circuit left him in a good mood with the opening event less than three weeks away.

Feeling slightly sick with abdominal cramps throug the first evening, De Puniet claimed the fifth best time, then gained momentum the following night to take his eighth best time of the whole test with a 1’56.504.

Focussing on engine performance with fresh mapping options and suspension settings, De Puniet amassed 66 laps and left the Qatar circuit very confident with his achievements.

“This morning when I woke up I felt okay so I could work hard with my crew to fine tune the bike before the first round here,” explains De Puniet. “I am very satisfied as we made good progress, especially on suspension setting and race pace. The bike is smoother now whilst in Sepang the feeling was quite nervous.”

De Puniet adds, “We completed a race simulation and I have posted my best time at the end of it – this is quite positive! I could have done better today but I found (Héctor) Barberá on my line in the last corner.”

“Our issues are still with making the rear suspension work well for us and the bike feeling quite nervous going into the corners, but I am delighted with the improvements of this test,” he concludes.