Gardner Ready for Redemption in Misano after Complex Catalunya Weekend

The likable 25-year-old joined WorldSBK and Yamaha at the start of this season after several years in the Moto2 class and a stint in MotoGP, and adapting to his new R1 has been a steep learning curve for the Aussie. However, Gardner is becoming ever closer to his mechanics and team, who are helping him through the process as he aims for top results in WorldSBK. 

Having lived in both Spain and Andorra, and being fluent in Spanish, Gardner feels a certain ‘home race’ affinity with the Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya, and he was enjoying the benefits that come along with that:
“Barcelona is very fast and flowing, with lots of beautiful corners, and riding here on a Superbike is very different to a Moto2 or MotoGP bike, so I’m adapting to get the most out of the machine, but I’m still getting the bike sideways and that’s always good fun! It’s nice to have a good result at your home race, but it’s not more important than any other race really…except if you do well it’s great to celebrate with friends!”

However, it turned out to be a rollercoaster weekend for Gardner, veering from slightly frustrating results in FP1 and FP2 (11th and 15th), to an improving 9th in FP3, then a strong performance in Superpole saw Remy snatch a great seventh place. This was shortly followed by a promising 10th place in a red-flag interrupted Race 1, despite a collision on the opening lap leaving him with a damaged exhaust.

“On the first lap another rider made contact with me, which bent my exhaust, and then I got passed by two or three riders. I couldn’t get back through on them, and I ran out of tyre trying, so I dropped back and, despite getting 10th, it feels like a bit of a disaster.” Remy stated after a clearly frustrating Race 1.

The weekend took a further turn when a technical issue forced him out of the Superpole race, and a points-scoring finish of 13th in Race 2 wasn’t enough to lift the spirits of a deflated Gardner: 
“It was a really tough weekend. I came to Barcelona expecting to improve because we were making steps. I felt like I could’ve gained some places in the Superpole Race, but then I had an issue and had to pit in. In the second long race I was trying to adapt my style and lift up the bike more, but in the end I couldn’t get higher than 13th place. At least we should have some good data.”

After the struggles in Barcelona, Gardner is now fully focused on making amends this week at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, venue for round five of the 2023 WorldSBK season and a track at which the Australian finished on the podium as recently as 2021. 

“I don’t want to completely forget the weekend I had in Barcelona, because we did learn and we did collect information, so there are always positives to be found,” declared Gardner. “However, now I’m definitely fully focused on moving onto Misano and securing the best results possible.”

Follow Remy’s progress and all the action on the Yamaha Racing social media channels.