With 140 starts in MotoGP, Randy de Puniet lacks neither experience nor pedigree. And he’s carried both forward into the FIM Endurance World Championship where he has become a frontrunner and podium finisher over the years.
Some of that success has come at Suzuka, venue of round three of the 2023 season, where he finished second in the 8 Hours in 2014 and placed third in 2017 with Suzuki and Honda power respectively.
For the 44th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours, which takes place from 4-6 August, the 42-year-old from France is part of the Team Kawasaki Webike Trickstar line-up, sharing the #11 Kawasaki ZX10-RR with compatriot Grégory Leblanc and Japan’s Kazuki Watanabe, who finished on the Suzuka podium in 2023. This is what he’s had to say.
It might not be the longest race on the EWC calendar but the Suzuka 8 Hours is considered to be one of the toughest. In your view what makes it so tough?
Suzuka is really tough. First you have the track, it’s a really technical track. You have not so much time to rest. Then you have the weather, the temperature and the humidity are huge. Finally, you have many factory teams with World Superbike riders plus a lot of satellite bikes from Honda and Suzuki, all with really good riders. That’s why “Suzuka is the most difficult endurance race, even though it’s only eight hours.”
Despite these challenges, is it a race you can enjoy?
It’s a fun race but it’s the same story with all the races. If you fight for a top position you enjoy and you have the motivation. When the performance is not there it’s more difficult, especially when you are at a track like Suzuka or Spa, which is also a really physical track.
You mentioned the weather, there was rain during the test earlier this month but how much harder would a rain-hit Suzuka 8 Hours be?
The problem is the weather can change every stint. I remember in 2014, when I finished second, and every hour the weather changed. You start with slick tyres but you need to stop 40 minutes later because it rained again. The weather can be big problem so we need to manage it and be clever and intelligent concerning that.
To what extent is experience important, especially when it comes to your physical preparation?
If you are ready physically then you can manage so it’s not a question of experience. For sure it’s better to know what to do so you need to organise your camelback, when to break, to eat well. You need to feel strong in all the stints because it’s one hour for each stint and you can see some riders after 40 minutes they drop and lose some seconds because in the end they are finished physically. This can be a bad thing for a team but I’m ready, I know how difficult it is to go there so I am preparing myself to be fit. If you arrive at 100 per cent and you have done your best and then you can do nothing more. I hope I will be fit for all the race.*
What’s the best way to recover following a stint – we see riders cooling off in mini swimming pools, for example?
The problem comes when you have two riders. I finished twice on the podium and every time we raced with only two riders. When it’s like this you finish the stint and immediately you debrief but for less than five minutes. You remove your suit, you go to the pool to cool down and you try to rest for maybe 20 minutes, eat something quick and you need to be ready again for your next stint. It’s very intense.
Grégory Leblanc was a new addition to the Team Kawasaki Webike Trickstar line-up for last month’s 24H SPA EWC Motos. How important was his recruitment?
It was really important because, from what we could see in Le Mans, we had riders with not so much experience, so it was decided to take a driver with experience and Grégory Leblanc was one of the best options. He has the experience, he has won Bol d’Or, he has won Le Mans, he was good in Spa and we hope it will be the same in Suzuka and also at the Bol d’Or at the end of the season but with some improvement.
How would you assess your EWC season so far?
We finished ninth in Le Mans and fifth in Spa but it was never possible to fight with the top teams and for this reason I am not happy. So the target is to close the gap to the top teams at Suzuka and fight with them in the Bol d’Or.
What’s the target for Suzuka?
If we can achieve a top 10 it’s great for us and a realistic target. And if we can do better for sure it would be good, but we need to stay in our place. It’s not going to be easy but we don’t have the pace to fight for the victory.
And just how special is the Suzuka atmosphere?
The thing is there is a big atmosphere in Le Mans, there is a big atmosphere for the Bol d’Or and also for Suzuka. But the people in Japan have a really big respect for the riders, they are really polite and that’s why it’s always a pleasure to go to Suzuka and to ride there.
The 44th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race is due to start at 11h30 local time on Sunday 6 August.
Original Source [ FIM EWC ]
