VOL. 51 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 21, 2014 P29
DE PUNIET TO WORLD SUPERS
S
uzuki MotoGP test
rider Randy de Pu-
niet has inked a deal
that will see him aboard
a Voltcom Crescent Su-
zuki GSX-R1000 in the
2015 World Superbike
Championship.
The 33-year-old
Frenchman will join
Brit Alex Lowes on the
two-rider team. De Pu-
niet has competed in
139 MotoGPs and five
250cc Grands Prix in
his career and the 2015
season will mark his
debut in the World Su-
perbike Series. During
the current season, de
Puniet led the develop-
ment of the Suzuki GSX-
RR and he will continue
in a testing role with the
MotoGP team concurrent to his
World Superbike duties.
De Puniet isn't a stranger to
the bike as his successful sec-
ond-place result as part of the
Yoshimura team in the 2014 Su-
zuka 8-Hour Endurance race in
Japan.
De Puniet is also scheduled
to race the Suzuki MotoGP
bike in the final round of the
2014 season at Valencia in
Spain in November. The World
Superbike team will complete
its season with Lowes and Eu-
gene Laverty on November 2.
"I'm so happy to be joining
Crescent Suzuki for the Super-
bike World Championship be-
cause my target for 2015 was
to get back to competing on
the racetrack," de Puniet said.
"Testing for the past year was
okay, but of course what I really
want is to race. I really enjoyed
racing in Suzuka this year - to
race, to fight and to be on the
podium is everything to me. I
had the opportunity to join the
Crescent team for next year
and I'm really happy; my first
priority was to stay with Suzuki
because I want to stay
within this family, and
for me this is a new chal-
lenge – a new champi-
onship, new bike, new
tire. Everything is dif-
ferent and I have many
things to learn, but I
am ready for that and
I'm very confident. I will
be joining a very strong
team with a lot of expe-
rience and I think the
bike will be good next
year. We have a good
test plan for this winter
and I think we will be
ready for the first race
in Phillip Island next year."
Team manager Paul Denning
is also excited to have de Pu-
niet on board.
"We couldn't be happier to
have secured Randy's agree-
ment to compete in the 2015
World Superbike Champion-
ship on board our GSX-R1000,"
Denning said. "We needed a
high-quality rider to replace
Eugene [Laverty]; Randy was
the obvious choice, and we are
very proud to have gained his
trust and commitment to race
with us next year."
Randy de Puniet will
move to the World
Superbike Championship
for 2015 with the factory
Suzuki team.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
