Shortly the competitors who will make up the 2010 MotoGP grid, will arrive at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia as the circuit preparations intensify for the coming year.

LCR Honda racer Randy de Puniet will be present and after his squad were recently at Honda Racing’s work place in Tokyo to develop the new version of the RC212V, he is excited about the fresh engine.

“My team was in Japan last week to work on the bike and I spoke with my crew chief,” De Puniet explains. “He told me the bike is completely new, and it will be closer to the factory prototype – this is great news for next year! Now I just have to wait to ride it because it’s not so easy to speak about the improvements until you’ve tried the bike out on the track.”

De Puniet adds: “I’m excited about Sepang because I’ll try the new bike there. It’s been almost three months now (since the end of the season). Some riders at the Valencia Test (last November) tried the new bike and I used the old one, so that’s why Malaysia will be very good for me.”

De Puniet has been training consistently as he still aims to fully recover from the fractured ankle incurred last August, however he is confident he will be in fine form for the beginning of the campaign.

“I’ve done some good training this month but I’m not at 100% yet,” he states. “I need to be at that for the first race, and that’s why we have this good schedule. Now it’s time to ride the bike and after to resume training, but I think we are on course.”

De Puniet has also been training beside Jules Cluzel, who will ride this year. He adds: “Jules came to train with me because he wanted to improve his physical condition. I tried to help him and I think he did a good job, because for him it was a completely new workout. We did cycling, motorcycling, running, and many other things for between three and four hours per day, five days per week and over a three-week period. It was good for both of us.”

Ending, De Puniet shares his thoughts on the recent confirmation that the premier session will have a maximum engine capacity of 1000cc from 2012.

“It will be interesting, especially on the riding side, and there will also be more power. The bike will be harder to control,” he says. “I think if you can reduce the cost for the team, this is a good option and I think that’s why the change has been decided upon, because the cost now is very high, especially for a private team like mine.”