MotoGP Interview: Randy De Puniet at Silverstone

I met Randy on Saturday evening after he qualified on the front row. We did the interview in French but I have translated everything to save you the trouble!

I read you were named Randy because your dad was a big fan of Randy Mamola. Is it true and if so, does Mr Mamola know?

Randy De Puniet: *smiles* Yes, it is true and Randy knows! I have been here for 10 years now so when I first arrived in MotoGP, I was very pleased to meet him! Randy Mamola is a great rider.

How did you get into Motorcycle Racing?

Randy De Puniet : My Dad was a rider so of course, I got my first bike when I was very young.
I started for my own enjoyment then I moved to Motocross but I stopped because I didn’t like it that much.

Alongside Motocross, I used to play Football.  My Dad has always supported me with everything I wanted to do: bikes or football. One day I told him I wanted to try track racing and off we went!  I was 15 years old.

In France, the National TV channels don’t show MotoGP and you don’t seem to have many French sponsors despite being the only MotoGP rider for the country. What’s going on?

Randy De Puniet : Since I have been in MotoGP, there hasn’t been much support from French sponsors (apart from Elf).  Today, I think I am one of the fast riders but it doesn’t seem to help.  Maybe things will improve if I have a good season this year.

You know, there were a lot of fans at the French GP, around 100,000 people! Le Mans is a magnificent GP but big companies don’t seem to want to invest.

I have sponsors who have been with me for a very long time but apart from Elf, the French ones are hard to attract.

Being the only rider in the team. What are the advantages and the disadvantages?

Randy De Puniet : The advantage is that everybody in the team concentrates on me.
The down side is when I don’t have the right set up, I can’t look next door for data to help.

I have been in this team for 3 years and it has always been that way. In the 250 class, I was also on my own for 2 years.
I have always managed to achieve good things so for me, it is not a problem at all!

Lastly, Have you visited the Playboy Mansion yet?

Randy De Puniet : Ha! No, we haven’t talked about that yet!