Assen, 26 June 2008: LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet was in good form today, finishing seventh fastest in a very hot day of free practice for Saturday’s Ducth Grand Prix. Both sessions were conducted on dry track with ambience temperature of 22°C and the 27-year-old set his best lap time of 1’37.187 on the last lap of this afternoon’s session.

The LCR squad completed a productive day at the 4.555km circuit chasing the best set-up for the Michelin-shod Honda RC212V nr. 14. De Puniet concentrated his work mainly on tyre testing and chassis set-up finding a good overall package for tomorrow’s qualifying session.
Today’s pacesetter Stoner clocked his fastest lap time of 1’36.087.

De Puniet – 7th: “I am very happy today because we made a good job in both sessions and we gained one second in the afternoon one. The bike is easier for me and we found the right direction for this challenging track. We made some adjustments to the bike trying to improve the stability on braking and turning into the corners on the brakes which was a problem this morning. With the adjustments on the front fork setting we shaved some tenths and the rear tyres we tested were all of a good grip level. Basically it was a very positive first day of practices for us and I want to the thank my Team for their efforts”.

Free Practice:

1 Stoner (1’36.087)
2 Rossi (1’36.819)
3 Edwards (1’36.931)
4 Hayden (1’37.012)
5 De Angelis (1’37.126)
6 Nakano (1’37.137)
7 De Puniet (1’37.187)
8 Hopkins (1’37.251)
9 Pedrosa (1’37.280)
10 Vermeulen (1’37.282)
11 Dovizioso (1’37.326)
12 Guintoli (1’37.357)
13 Toseland (1’37.838)
14 Lorenzo (1’37.960)
15 West (1’38.413)
16 Elias (1’38.656)
17 Capirossi (1’38.667)
18 Melandri (1’39.214)