De Puniet joins Suzuki WSBK team
The Frenchman joins Alex Lowes in the British-based team as a replacement for Eugene Laverty, and will also continue to test Suzuki’s MotoGP bike as wellVoltcom Crescent Suzuki has completed rider line-up for the 2015 Superbike World Championship, with current Suzuki MotoGP test rider Randy de Puniet joining the UK-based team alongside Alex Lowes.
A long-standing face in grand prix competition, de Puniet has amassed 139 MotoGP starts and five 250 GP race wins during his 15 years on the world stage so far. Over the last 12 months, he has become instrumental to the development of Suzuki’s 2015 return to GP competition with the all-new GSX-RR.
The 33-year-old Frenchman will also continue to test the Suzuki GP machine in 2015, with particular responsibility for matching the bike’s performance to MotoGP’s new 2016 tyre provider, Michelin.
De Puniet, who’s married to Australian model Lauren Vickers, recently finished second in the 2014 Suzuka 8-Hour world endurance race on a GSX-R1000 alongside Australia’s Josh Waters.
“I’m so happy to be joining Crescent Suzuki for the Superbike World Championship because my target for 2015 was to get back to competing on the race track,” said de Puniet. “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 challenge -- a new championship, new bike, new tyre, everything is different. 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 experience 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.” The 2015 Phillip Island round is pencilled in for February 20-22.
Voltcom Crescent Suzuki will complete its last race of the 2014 season with current riders Eugene Laverty and Lowes at Losail in Qatar on November 2, before beginning an extensive winter of testing and development with de Puniet and Lowes.
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