De Puniet confident of top eight

The Frenchman was at the top of the timesheets for some of qualifying, having used a qualifying tyre early in the session, but eventually dropped to eighth after the late run of quick laps from his rivals.

However, after feeling confident with the handling of his Kawasaki, he believes that if he gets away well tomorrow then he could be in for a decent result.

"This morning we tried different tyre options and I managed a fast and consistent simulation," he said about his preparations. "We confirmed it in the afternoon and we will use Bridgestone's medium option.

"I'm satisfied with the qualifying, as I improved my lap time with each of the three qualifying tyres used. I pushed as hard as I could; it would have been difficult to be faster. The race will depend on the start and if I do well I think I can defend my position."

Teammate Olivier Jacque did not have such a good time, after spending time trying to find a good set-up on his bike. However, he still thinks he can score points tomorrow.

"Today I began with the same set up I finished with yesterday to corroborate the improvement that I felt," he said. "But, unfortunately, it didn't work. We then worked hard on chassis balance and front suspension and finally, in the afternoon, we found a better set up.

"I'm not yet 100% used to the qualifiers and I lost a lot of time at the first split as I don't warm up properly the tyre.

"However, I went fast through the other three sectors and that made me feel good. I'm so excited and I will do my best to finish in the points tomorrow."