Voltcom Suzuki’s Randy De Puniet had to sit out more than half of today’s opening Phillip Island World Superbike test after a massive highside at turn 11 just before lunch left him battered and bruised.
The Frenchman had been leading on the timesheets early on and was fourth until the crash – his time was still good enough for eighth place. De Puniet believes he hasn’t broken any bones but he has some swelling on his back although he will try and ride again tomorrow.
“The test started well today, and I was in first position for most of this morning. My feeling with the bike was very good, we did some slight adjustments and I was confident working with new tyres to get a good feeling for the race,” said De Puniet.
“Five minutes before the end of the session I was fourth and I went out on fresh tyres with the plan to improve my lap-time, as my best was from my eighth lap on the tyre. On my second timed-lap I had a massive high-side at turn 11, I flew very high and came down hard on my back, with a lot of pain, it doesn’t look like anything is broken but it is very swollen so I decided not to ride this afternoon as it was impossible and we will see how it feels tomorrow morning.
“I hope to make some laps in the morning and if not, I will try again in the afternoon. I’m disappointed because it was a good start, but the most important thing is nothing is broken and I need to be ready for Friday and especially for Sunday. The bike is good and Alex has done the fastest time this afternoon so I think we can be confident and I hope I can be in the best condition for the race weekend.”
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