Moto Ain are marking their entrance into the EWC class in a big way by recruiting Randy de Puniet. Alongside Roberto Rolfo and Robin Mulhauser, the former MotoGP rider will be a major attribute in fighting among the EWC front runners.
Moto Ain, two-time winners of the FIM Superstock World Cup, are making their ambitions clear right from their first season in Formula EWC.
Randy de Puniet has joined the team managed by Pierre Chapuis. The French former MotoGP rider already has considerable experience of Endurance. After a 2nd-place finish at the 2014 Suzuka 8 Hours with Yoshimura Suzuki, Randy de Puniet raced his first Bol d’Or in 2016 with the factory Kawasaki team, finishing 2nd. He returned to the podium at Suzuka in 2017 with F.C.C. TSR Honda France. The French rider then joined two other factory teams, Honda Endurance Racing and ERC Endurance Ducati, and scored several podiums.
This season, Randy de Puniet is putting his experience at the service of Moto Ain, who have moved up into the premier class with the objective of making it into the Top 5 of the 2021 FIM Endurance World Championship.
Pierre Chapuis, Moto Ain team manager
Randy’s arrival is an opportunity. He’ll enable us to progress faster. But it also puts the pressure on us because he’s a very fast rider. We’re moving into a new category and we might make a few mistakes. Randy really helped us with moving from Superstock to EWC and preparing a good bike without spending too much. I think Randy appreciates our serious approach but also the friendly atmosphere among the team.
Randy de Puniet
I’ve known Pierre for the past 20 years. He first asked me for advice about moving up into EWC, what to do with the bike, the suspension, the brakes… Then he asked me to ride for them. We did some testing this winter and it went well. Then the team changed their tyre brand and we did some more and pretty conclusive tests at Le Mans in early March. So I said OK for the season. I’m also up for it because they’re serious and they have a good technical crew. The only thing holding them back is a lack of means. But it’s a challenge that interests me, and I still want to race. The Yamaha is a good bike, prepared just as it should be, we’ve got good tyres and there’s a positive team atmosphere. Now we just have to go for it. It won’t be easy to beat the factory teams, but if we do it right, we can get a podium.
Original Source [ FIM EWC ]
