Randy de Puniet has re-signed with the LCR Honda team for the 2010 MotoGP World Championship.

De Puniet, had a reputation as a crasher and held the unenviable record of having the most crashes for two years running, has shown a big improvement this year. The Frenchman is currently tied in the standings with Alex DeAngelis for 8th place, with 88 points and is so far the top satellite Honda rider this season, with a 3rd place podium at Donington Park.

Randy DePuniet:

“The 2010 season will be my fifth year in the MotoGP class; Honda is working hard to improve the RCV machine and the LCR Team is very professional and they are like a family for me. We have got the potential to make positive results and we will try again!”

Lucio Cecchinello Team Manager :

“We are very happy to work with Randy next year. He still has a lot of potential and our aim was to continue the project we started together in MotoGP in 2008. Honestly I am very confident of what we can achieve in 2010: we will work with the same style and with the same determination to make a step up in the quality of our organization and our on-track performances”.

Continue reading: Randy de Puniet re-signs with LCR Honda

For our motorcycle pic of the day, today we give you this x-ray photo of Randy de Puniet’s ankle from our friends at Motosblog. Despite his injury, he is still racing for Lucio Cecchinello’s LCR Honda team, which hopes to re-sign Puniet for another season contract.

After a third place at Donington, and 12th on the weekend at Indianapolis, Puniet sustained his injury about a month ago during motocross training. However contract negotiations between Honda and Puniet are set to be completed sometime before the Misano race on September 13th. We wish him all the best, especially considering the x-ray. How many pins can you fit in one ankle?!

Send your funny, bizarre or surprising pics to us and we’ll post them, with your name. We’d love to share what you guys find in the world of motorcycling! Send to: pics@twowheelsblog.com.

Continue reading: Randy de Puniet's ankle: the x-ray

Another rider has suffered an injury while training, this time it’s Randy de Puniet. The French rider for LCR Honda who took a fantastic third place at Donington, was motocross training with his personal trainer Yves Demaria (a three-time FIM Motorcross champion) when he crashed on a corner, hurting his ankle.

Taken to the hospital in Aix en Provence, x-rays revealed a fractured left ankle. DePuniet underwent surgery to insert a screw into his ankle and left the hospital on Monday and will meeting with the Clinica Mobile doctors to start his rehabilitation therapy.

De Puniet stated:

“Yves and I have a specific training programme to improve my performance on track this year. This programme has helped me a lot so far and through the summer break I didn’t want to stop training. So we went out to do a short motocross session, but unfortunately I had a fall and the impact on the ground caused a fracture of the left ankle.I am very disappointed about this setback but training is very important for me in order to be in good shape in MotoGP. I will do my best to race in Brno and I am sure that the Clinica Mobile staff will support me in the best way.”

DePuniet is currently 8th in the MotoGP championship standings and is linked for a place in Herve Poncharal’s Yamaha Tech 3 team in 2010.

Continue reading: Randy de Puniet breaks ankle, Brno in doubt

The choosing of the umbrella girls for the Italian GP at Mugello has become big promo business and sponsors play it to the hilt.

Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo got his two when he inaugurated the new Fiat Open Lounge in Milan. Lorenzo met up with Luisa Mearns and Stefania Cicirello who were the two winners of Radio DeeJay and Fiat Automobile SpA contest for grid girls for this weekend’s Gran Prix.

Randy DePuniet and LCR Honda’s owner Lucio Cecchinello are choosing their grid girls in a casting that’s going to take place tonight in a Playboy event at the Disco Central Park in Florence. Playboy Playmates and Bunnies are going show up for the party.

Niccolò Canepa and Mika Kallio of Pramac racing will also be choosing their Sunday’s brolly girls tonight in another Florence disco, the Meccanò.

So ladies if your in town and don’t have other plans for tonight, you know where to go. Hey you never know what opportunities could arise, you may even get noticed by the Italian PM and offered a job in politics.

Continue reading: Mugello Grid Girl Casting

A few of the brolly girls at the MotoGP night race in Losail, Qatar. Most of you guys probably noticed that Randy de Puniet’s
Honda’s livery was not sporting their new Playboy logo, but Radio Monte Carlo.

Lucio Cecchinello was advised by local authorities that the use of the Playboy brand in the Middle Eastern country would be frowned upon, so we’ll have to wait and see if a few bunnies show up at Motegi.

Brolly Girls from Qatar MotoGP

Continue reading: Umbrella Chicks from Qatar MotoGP

When Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau crashed in Barcelona in 2006, there was a lot of talk how a brake lever protection could have avoided that terrifying accident and now three years later it looks like the LCR Team has decided to experiment on Randy De Puniet’s RC212V Honda, a decent looking and hopefully safe front brake lever protection.

The photo is from the Losail -Qatar MotoGP test last week.

Continue reading: Brake Lever Protection on De Puniet's Honda