The MotoGP Gran Premio Gernerali de la Comunitat Valenciana starting line-up following qualifying saw Randy de Puniet just miss out on a front row start despite the cold and windy conditions.

To think that this was my last qualifying session makes me a little sad, but I’m happy with the choice I made. I expected my last round to be different, happier. Instead, I’m very sad, and I have a big empty spot for Marco, who has left us

Pramac Racing team rider Randy de Puniet finished the session with a fourth-best qualifying time, missing the front row by just 0.061s after a strong performance all weekend. The French rider stopped the clock with a time of 1’33.118 behind third position qualifyer Ben Spies. Team mate Loris Capirossi in what will be his last race in MotoGP registered the twelfth-best time with a 1’34.671. Capirossi will wear a helmet and leathers designed specially for the occasion.

Randy De Puniet
I'm happy to end the season, at times unfortunate, so well. In these days my team worked so well. I found an excellent feeling with the bike and tires. I feel confident in both the wet and the dry. It’s been an up-and-down season, and I want to finish it as well as possible, as a way to thank the team.

Loris Capirossi
“To think that this was my last qualifying session makes me a little sad, but I’m happy with the choice I made. I expected my last round to be different, happier. Instead, I’m very sad, and I have a big empty spot for Marco, who has left us. I’m sorry I wasn’t so fast, but I want to honor him as well as I can tomorrow. It will be my last race, and I still can’t believe it.”

Marco Rigamonti - Randy De Puniet Track Engineer
"We are very proud about our work. We were fast all weekend, both in the dry and in the wet. For the moment, everything went perfectly, both with the bike and the tires. The race pace is very good, and Randy will have to focus on the start. It’s a shame, we could qualified on the first row, but the important thing is that we were very close. Randy crashed on the last lap because he wanted to take the first row, but that’s okay."

Grand Prix of Valencia Qualifying
1 Casey Stoner Honda 1'31.861
2 Dani Pedrosa Honda 1'32.875
3 Ben Spies Yamaha 1'33.057
4 Randy De Puniet Ducati 1'33.118
5 Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 1'33.443
6 Valentino Rossi Ducati 1'33.478
7 Nicky Hayden Ducati 1'33.656
8 Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1'33.824
9 Hector Barbera Ducati 1'34.186
10 Karel Abraham Ducati 1'34.265