From his Grand Prix debut to his ninth place in the MotoGP standings in 2009, through his time in the premier class with Kawasaki, Randy de Puniet has often worn the Elf colours. It's with the Honda LCR team that he's made them shine the most.
If you had to place the seasons spent in the colours of the Honda LCR team in your career, where would you put them?
In a very good place! I spent three years with the Honda LCR team, which was sponsored by Elf at the time, from 2008 to 2010. During that period the RC213V was performing quite well, and with Christophe Bourguignon, who had moved with me from the Kawasaki team to the LCR team, I had a great chief mechanic. As well as the complicity between us, Christophe did a great job. He helped me progress a lot. Lucio was also a great team manager, always ready to listen and give good advice. In both human and sporting terms, those three seasons were marvellous.
In 2008, you finished fifteenth in the world championship...
It was my first year with the Honda, and I crashed a lot. In practice, I managed to put in some good lap times. I think I finished seventh in qualifying. On the other hand, I made a lot of mistakes in the race. We were short of engine power and I tried to compensate by forcing my way into the corners. I also had a bit of trouble adapting to the Michelin tyres, which had different characteristics to the Bridgestones. I was also moving from an official team to an independent team... Things were much better in 2009.
Because the Honda was performing better?
Yes, and also because I knew my bike better. I finished fourth in Jerez, I was on the podium at Donington... I was regularly in the top ten.
And then there was that broken ankle in motocross...
Yes, without making excuses, it cost me dearly. That was at the end of July... I finished twelfth, then eleventh, because I wasn't 100% fit. In the end, I finished eleventh in the championship, ten points behind seventh... There was also my crash in Malaysia, where I had started well, and then grip problems in Australia and Valencia...
Wasn't being the only rider in the team a handicap?
The advantage of working in a team with just one rider is that everyone is 100% behind you. The downside is that you don't have anyone to turn to when things aren't going as they should. You can't look the other way. When there are two riders in a team, there are also two chief mechanics, two telemetrists... That's extra brains that can come up with solutions. Now, I'm not going to complain. When I was in the 250s, I almost always worked like that, especially with Lucio, and we always managed to get by.
Then there was the 2010 season, when you got injured just when you could have been in the top five overall...
I went from dream to nightmare. Sixth in Qatar, Mugello, Silverstone and Assen, fourth in Barcelona... Fourth was where I was at mid-season in the overall standings. Then I crashed in practice for the German Grand Prix. I hurt my ankle, it made it difficult for me to ride and I crashed again during the race. I ended up in the middle of the track and Mika Kallio ran over my left leg... The result was a broken tibia and fibula. I gritted my teeth and only missed the next Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, but the damage was done. Over the next nine races, I only managed one top-six finish. Things got complicated with the team, and I finally had to look for a place elsewhere at the end of the year. The story didn't end as it might have, but I still have some excellent memories of that period.