De Puniet not getting carried away

The Frenchman - who has often qualified extremely well only to crash or fall back in the races - took a superb fourth place in Spain, his highest finish since joining LCR Honda at the start of 2008.

He occupied the 'best of the rest' position behind title contenders Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa all weekend.

But de Puniet is remaining calm about his prospects of a similar result in France and says he will settle for another points finish.

"The Jerez weekend was simply perfect for me and the squad, but we must keep our feet on the ground," he said.

"The championship is very long and it won't be easy, but it seems we are working in the right direction. I am seventh overall in the provisional standings and I will keep trying to get as many points as possible."

Currently the only French rider in the top class after Sylvain Guintoli's departure to British Superbikes, de Puniet admitted that he would be delighted to get another top five finish in front of his home crowd. However he suspects that his satellite Honda will not be as well-suited to the stop-start track as it was to Jerez.

"Racing here in Le Mans is always something special and the fans are very warm with me," said de Puniet.

"But I have to keep my focus and be as consistent as possible. My bike is quite competitive now but we will probably miss some acceleration at this track."