Casey Stoner fined for de Puniet punch

French MotoGP pole starter, Casey Stoner, has been fined 5000 Euros by Race Direction for lashing out at Randy de Puniet during morning warm-up at Le Mans.

After almost hitting the back of a slow-moving de Puniet on a straight, Stoner gave the Frenchman a 'what are you doing?' punch on the shoulder as he pulled alongside.

The cruising de Puniet had looked back shortly before Stoner arrived, then moved to the right, straight into the path of the fast-moving Stoner.

de Puniet either didn't see Stoner, thought he was heading to his left or that he was far enough in front of the Australian.

Either way, Stoner clearly felt that de Puniet had acted dangerously, hence his anger, but Race Direction decided that taking physical action was a greater crime. de Puniet seems not to have been punished.

Despite the incident, Repsol Honda rider Stoner was fastest by half a second during the warm-up session and will be chasing his second victory of the season this afternoon.