Randy de Puniet underwent a minor surgery today, ahead of further tests in January aboard the CRT of the Aspar Team. In an interview with motogp.com following the recent test at Valencia, the Frenchman described his first impressions of the bike and his expectations for next season.
After two days of tests last week in Valencia with the Aspar Team, Randy de Puniet took advantage of the current period of inactivity to undergo a minor surgery before testing resumes in January. The operation was completed successfully on Wednesday to remove the titanium rod plus one screw that were inserted into his left tibia as a result of an injury sustained last year in Sachsenring, as well as two screws from his left ankle were inserted after a motocross crash in 2009.
De Puniet’s immediate plans are to recover 100% physically, which will take a minimum of ten days, before resuming training in mid-December ahead of further development of the Aprilia powered CRT machine that the team will contest in the 2012 campaign.
Following the Valencia test, de Puniet spoke to motogp.com to share his views regarding the new bike and the project that will launch in 2012 alongside the 1000cc bikes in the premier class.
“We had great testing conditions for the two days, we made some progress and I had fun with this bike," said the 30 year old. "It was a good first impression and so the two days were encouraging. I'm happy with my times and my pace, we are still far from the prototypes, but I think we can be pleased because it was the first time riding the bike, and it’s far from the bike that it will be in January."
Regarding future work to be carried out based on his first contact with the bike, de Puniet said: "The objective of this test was to try to decide on a direction to build a chassis and I think the team now has a good idea of how to move forward. We will do more testing at Jerez in late January, before going to Sepang with a bike that won’t yet be final, as we’ll continue to develop it, but it will be the basis of what we’ll have next season."
“I'm very happy, this will be a new adventure, a new project, and I will do my best to be as competitive as possible and to be as close as possible to the prototypes and beat them if I have the opportunity," added the Frenchman. "I worked with Aspar in 2005, my last GP win was with them and it’s a very competent team. I know they will do everything possible to have the best material and I’m very optimistic about this new project”.
source: motogp official
