After shining in Moto2, Remy Gardner did not have the start to the season that he expected in MotoGP. The Australian driver picked up a point on his debut in Qatar, but has slipped under the radar on the timesheet ever since.
The Grand Prix of the Americas illustrated the Tech3 driver’s difficult start to the season. Like everyone at KTM, he struggled to find the right pace and on Saturday, by his own admission, he had a “terrible day” with a very disappointing qualifying result.
Remy had just completed his best first sector of the weekend when a yellow flag waved in Q1, and he lost the front on his second attempt.
“Unfortunately with my crash I couldn’t get the perfect lap,” Wayne Gardner’s son explained after the session. “Even if I had, I would have won four tenths at most and that was just two places. It wouldn’t have changed much.”
“We literally lost two seconds,” Gardner lamented. “It’s the same for the factory drivers. What I like a bit more is that the gap is narrowing slightly with them. We may have improved, I’m not sure, but the oranges are fighting.”
“You have to work really hard to be fast on this bike. Austin is not the easiest track physically and I couldn’t hang on. It wasn’t a good day, it wasn’t a good weekend.”
Gardner broke his wrist shortly before preseason testing, during which his work was very limited, and while he knows the injury has made it difficult for him, he doesn’t want to use it as an excuse to explain another disappointment at Texas:
“Of course the wrist didn’t help, but at this stage of the season, having raced so much, we’re pretty much on the groove. [Austin] is just a physical track and the bike wasn’t easy to ride.”
“I expected better than what I did,” admitted the Tech3 driver. “Seeing what others have done in the past and after finishing last year dominating in Moto2, I expected better.”
“The first few races were very tough, but we will find a little more stability,” he added hopefully. “I still have a lot to learn, but I’ve taken a big [reality] slap in the face, especially at the GP of the Americas.”
Gardner also struggled physically throughout the weekend: “It wasn’t a good race,” he told the official MotoGP site after finishing 20th in a grueling race. “I gave it my all, but after seven or eight laps, honestly, I was dead.”
Like Brad Binder, Remy Gardner believes that the track was not made for his KTM, as all the representatives of the brand had had difficulties:
“Hopefully KTM will get something out of here on how to improve our package,” he added.
“There are two amazing riders in the factory team and one of them didn’t even finish in the points by giving 200% in every corner. I hope it gives them some data to try to progress. It’s not the easiest track for KTM, that’s safe” , concluded the Australian.
