Randy de Puniet joins Crescent Suzuki WSB squad

Former MotoGP podium finisher Randy de Puniet will join the Voltcom Crescent Suzuki team for the 2015 World Superbike championship. De Puniet, who has been testing the new Suzuki GSX-RR MotoGP project for the past year, will continue with that role as well as making the switch to production machinery.

However, the Frenchman is no stranger to superbikes, having taken a podium finish at the Suzuka 8hr with Crescent technical partner Yoshimura. He will join Alex Lwoes after the conclusion of the 2014 WSB season early next month to being testing the Suzuki, which should benefit from rule changes in 2015.

“I’m so happy to be joining Crescent Suzuki for the Superbike World Championship because my target for 2015 was to get back to competing on the race track. Testing for the past year was ok but of course what I really want is to race! I really enjoyed racing in Suzuka this year – to race, to fight and to be on the podium is everything to me. I had the opportunity to join the Crescent team for next year and I’m really happy; my first priority was to stay with Suzuki because I want to stay within this family, and for me this is a new challenge – a new championship, new bike, new tyre, everything is different and I have many things to learn but I am ready for that and I’m very confident.”

Team boss Paul Denning concluded: “We couldn’t be happier to have secured Randy’s agreement to compete in the 2015 World Superbike Championship on board our GSX-R1000. We needed a high quality rider to replace Eugene; Randy was the obvious choice, and we are very proud to have gained his trust and commitment to race with us next year.”

“He has impressed Suzuki this year with his hard work and feedback as test rider on the Grand Prix GSX-RR, but Randy’s racing pedigree is also beyond doubt and his potential to succeed on the Superbike is clear. This is not a commercially driven deal – the primary motivation is simply to race! After an acclimatisation period to learn the GSX-R1000 and the Pirelli tyres, I see no reason why he won’t be an absolute front runner. Randy’s close working relationship with the Suzuki Factory can also only be positive for the World Superbike project, and the whole team is very excited about getting down to work, and turning 2014’s potential into solid results for both riders next season.”

For the exclusive on Crescent’s new signing see tomorrow October 15th’s Motorcycle News.