De Puniet expects step forward at Estoril

The French rider has qualified in the top five for four of the last five races, but has struggled to convert his Saturday pace into strong race results. In the last round at Misano he triggered a first corner crash with the Repsol Hondas after putting his Kawasaki fourth on the grid.

But having made a further step forward with the ZX-RR in the post-race test in Italy, he is bullish about his prospects in Portugal.

"We stayed at Misano to test, which was very constructive. I was trying out a new swingarm, and immediately got a good feeling from it, so hope to use it in Portugal," de Puniet said.

"Estoril's a very technical circuit. There's a long straight, which should be good for the ZX-RR, and another back straight, but the rest is really slow, especially the chicane at turns nine and ten.

"I think we're going to do really well there with the 800cc bike. We can certainly be at the top."

De Puniet's teammate Anthony West is also optimistic about Estoril, having resolved some set-up issues at the Misano test.

"At the test after the Misano race, we made some changes to the set-up which immediately made me quicker and helped with the chatter problems I've been having, which means I should be able to run faster in Portugal," said West.

"I like the track at Estoril, although it's quite complex. It will be better than Misano for seeing what the revised engine's capable of, especially down the long start/finish straight, but the slow, tight sections will keep us on our toes as well."