De Puniet aims to stay in top eight

The LCR Honda rider has starred in qualifying all year, and his Phillip Island result is his ninth second row start of the season.

But converting those strong Saturday performances into race results has proved more difficult, with de Puniet only finishing in the top six once so far in 2008, having often lost pace in the races or made errors.

However he believes he has the potential to deliver a strong finish in Australia.

"I am very happy about the result and the job we made for tomorrow's race," said de Puniet.

"We tested different rear race tyres with good results but we still have to make our choice for the race. However my pace was consistently fast and I can say that we have got the potential to finish in the top eight positions.

"I feel satisfied about my performance on Q-tyres and missed the front row for one tenth only but this fourth place is a very positive result for me and the crew."

In an interview with the official MotoGP website, de Puniet added that he was particularly pleased with his performance because he believes his satellite Honda still has a significant power disadvantage.

"The whole track is important, but here there is only one big straight, and for sure we lose 15km/h compared with the better bikes," said the Frenchman.

"After that you can reduce the gap in T2, T3 and T4, so I tried to give my best through there and did a good lap time."