Difficult Saturday for GYTR GRT Yamaha in Aragon
It was a challenging Saturday for the GYTR GRT Yamaha team of Remy Gardner and Marvin Fritz at the tenth round of the 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship at Motorland Aragon.
In the morning, Gardner and Fritz put the final free practice session to good use, getting ready for the Tissot Superpole qualifier. Afterwards, in the 15-minute session, Gardner and Fritz faced a challenging qualifying session. The Aussie rider couldn’t climb higher than 15th (1’49.038), with his German teammate 22nd on a 1’51.794.
As Race 1 got underway at 14:00 local time, Gardner enjoyed a good getaway to gain positions in the opening lap. Unfortunately, a red flag stoppage saw him restarting from 15th on the grid, still managing to have a good restart to win places in the early stages. The 26-year old showed consistent speed, but unluckily struggled with grip from the front tyre in the final stages, dropping to 16th at the chequered flag.
On the other side of the garage, Marvin Fritz had to start from the back of the grid and take a double long lap penalty after the team opted to install a new engine above the engine allocation for the machine. After five laps, he retired from the race. The penalty for taking a seventh engine covers both main races, meaning Fritz will also have to start at the back and take the double long lap in Race 2 on Sunday.
SUPERPOLE RESULTS
RACE 1 RESULTS
Remy Gardner – Superpole: P15 / Race 1: P16
“Disappointing Saturday, let’s be honest. We tried our best but I couldn’t climb higher than 15th in the Superpole session. Afterwards, in Race 1 I enjoyed a good start and managed to stay with those in front, but in the latter stages I really struggled with grip from the front tyre. We’ll check what happened and try to find some solution for tomorrow’s races, hoping to have a decent sprint race and a decent Race 2 overall.”
Marvin Fritz – Superpole: P22 / Race 1: DNF
“It was another challenging day. In the morning we tried to improve our feelings to get ready for the Superpole session. When the team and Yamaha asked if I would take the extra engine for Domi and start from the back of the grid with a double long lap, I of course accepted as I fully understand the situation and that they want Domi to have the best possible chance when he returns from injury. Unfortunately, this compromises us for tomorrow too, but I am happy to support Yamaha.”
