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Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet will
start tomorrow's Dutch TT from the front row of the grid after
a gripping finale to today's qualifying session. Team mate, Anthony
West, also came well within the top ten on the time sheet and
will start from the front of the third row.
After a good start to the session, which saw him easily maintaining
the pace of the frontrunners, de Puniet's confidence dropped
as an already wet track became precariously slippery, with rain
falling ever harder on the Dutch circuit. However, perseverance
with his Bridgestone tyre choice paid off as drier conditions
prevailed and, on his very last run, he put in his best time
of the day. The 26-year-old Frenchman's final lap of 1'49.579
took him from a discouraging 13th in the line up, to a magnificent
third, just behind fellow Bridgestone runners Chris Vermeulen,
on pole, and Casey Stoner.
The Kawasaki rider also claimed the honour of being the fastest
man of the session, with a top speed of 275.791kmh.
De Puniet has been showing increasing consistency of late and
recently celebrated his best ever finishes in MotoGP with a fifth
at Catalunya and a sixth last week at Donington Park. In yesterday's
practice sessions, in the dry, he finished second in the field
on combined times so, considering today's wildly different conditions,
he's further displayed an ever-increasing maturity on the track
and talent for taking his 800cc Ninja ZX-RR forward, regardless
of the environment.
In front of packed grandstands at the 4.555km Circuit van Drenthe,
Anthony West continued his mission to conquer the ZX-RR, aiming
to find the best set up for what is only his second race for
the Kawasaki Racing Team.
Confident in the wet, the 25-year-old Australian featured strongly
at the top of the initial time sheets in the session but stagnated
slightly, mid pack, as he struggled to maintain the pace. However,
the vigour of his early performance enabled him to remain in
seventh position until just towards the end.
In a stunning display of last minute gusto, West upped his time
on his last lap, claiming sixth although, in a cruel case of
inter-team irony, it was de Puniet's great finish that pushed
him back to seventh as the chequered flag marked the end of the
hour-long qualifying session.
Just 0.116 seconds off the man in front of him, Colin Edwards,
West beat many far more experienced MotoGP riders with his time
of 1'49.807, including Dani Pedrosa, Loris Capirossi, Valentino
Rossi and current world champion, Nicky Hayden.
Today's results represent a significant step forward for the
Kawasaki squad who, as the season progresses, are showing they're
a team to be reckoned with. In tomorrow's 26-lap race, they're
confident they can maintain this momentum. |
