De Puniet aims for consistent race

The LCR Honda rider has regularly qualified in the top ten this year, only to crash or hit trouble on race day, so has not finished higher than ninth this season.

At Assen two weeks ago de Puniet started fifth, only to be taken out by Valentino Rossi at the first corner.

Given his string of disappointments, the Frenchman is aiming to stay out of trouble tomorrow rather than planning a charge at the podium.

"I would like to do a normal race because since the beginning of the year I've had a lot of problems, injuries and been unlucky, and for me to finish in the top eight will be good," de Puniet told the official MotoGP website.

"It's very close here and the start will be very important. If I can make a very good start, I think I can do a very good race. That's why I need to stay concentrated and be very consistent."

Although de Puniet felt he had a shot at the front row had he not got caught up in traffic, he was mainly content with the work LCR achieved on race set-ups in the early part of the session.

"I'm happy, we did a good job during this qualifying - espeically on race tyres," he said. "I had a good rhythm and we improved the bike a lot since this morning, so that's why I'm happy.

"I'm a little bit disappointed with the Q tyres because I think it was possible to take the first row, but (Shinya) Nakano was behind me just when I started my lap and I lost some tenths, and maybe two or three tenths would have been sufficient for the first row.

"Anyway, I'm on the second row and it's good here to start at the front because the track is very tight and it's not so easy to overtake. That's why I'm confident for tomorrow."