Photo by: Pramac Racing
BRNO GRAND PRIX: TWELfTH PLACE FOR DE PUNIET, THIRTEENTH FOR CAPIROSSI
Randy De Puniet and Loris Capirossi finished the Grand Prix at Brno in twelfth and thirteenth positions, respectively. Suffering from strong back pain caused by yesterday’s qualifying crash, the Frenchman will try to rest ahead of the next world championship round, at Indianapolis. Loris Capirossi will stay at Brno for the test before returning home to continue his therapy to recuperate strength in his right shoulder.
Marco Rigamonti - Randy De Puniet track engineer
“We worked really hard, especially in the first laps of the race, when we were trying to stay with the group ahead. We got closer to Barbera when he started to slow, but Randy no longer had the strength to fight, due to his physical problems. He didn’t want to force his hand too much, because he would have risked crashing, so he paced himself until the end of the race. Naturally, we can’t be satisfied, but the hope is to have our riders in good shape for the next round at Indianapolis.”
Randy De Puniet - 12th in race - 17th in MotoGP standings
“It was a complicated race. The pain in my back increased compared to yesterday, so my movements were limited and I didn’t have enough energy for the entire race. I had a poor start, behind everyone. Then I started to recover some ground on the others, but there wasn’t enough time to make up positions. I tried to put myself in the group with Elias and Barbera, but the pain was too strong for me to fight. I was only thinking of finishing the race. Although I’m not satisfied with the race, I did glimpse some improvements regarding the bike. With a better start, I would have finished the race in the top ten positions.”
Loris Capirossi - 13th in race - 16th in MotoGP standings
“As long as my physical condition was able to support the bike’s weight, I was able to keep up with Randy and Toni [Elias], but then my arm was hurting so badly that I was just thinking of finishing the race. It’s a shame that we continue to encounter problems, and we’re not able to ride the bike in the right way. Fortunately, tomorrow’s test will give us the opportunity to try to solve some of our many problems. It won’t be easy, but we’ll try our best.”
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