A Consistent Race 1 in Donington Earns Points for Gardner and Aegerter
Remy Gardner recovered to P10 in Race 1 at Donington, with Dominique Aegerter scoring valuable points with a consistent P12 finish, despite misfortune dropping him back.
The day started with Free Practice 3, where the GYTR GRT Yamaha riders clocked more laps on their Yamaha R1 machines and improved on their learning process at Donington Park. Even though the track had still wet patches, Gardner was able to build confidence to finish 11th (1’29.568) with his teammate Aegerter just behind in 12th (1’29.719).
Afterwards, both gave it their all for a good grid position in the Tissot Superpole qualifier. The #77 rider eventually qualified in sixth (1’26.502) with a stunning final lap, while unfortunately the #87 couldn’t fully express his potential and had to start from 18th (1’27.608).
In Race 1, Aegerter dropped a couple of positions at the start, while Gardner impressed with a rocket getaway to gain five places in the opening lap. Then, in the 23-lap contest, the GYTR GRT Yamaha pair showed consistent pace to score valuable points. Indeed, the Australian rider recovered to P10 in the latter stages, while unfortunately bad luck forced his Swiss teammate to move from P9 to P12.
Remy Gardner – Superpole: P18 / Race 1: P10
“It was a tough day, especially in the qualifying. Missing track time was a shame, and Donington Park surely isn’t the easiest track to learn. Anyway, for the race we made some important changes and I started to understand the circuit a bit better. In the final laps I started to get the flow and at the end we gained eight positiosn, which isn’t bad. We’ll keep working for tomorrow, hoping we’ll be able to put in another recovery.”
Dominique Aegerter – Superpole: P6 / Race 1: P12
“For sure missing valuable track time wasn’t ideal for us, even though it was the same for everyone. In the Superpole we were able to perform a great final lap and I felt happy and had good grip on the bike. Then, in Race 1 I had the same good vibes while the grip lasted, but once I started losing it, things became difficult to manage. We’ll have a lot of data to work on for Sunday’s races, I’m confident we can find the way to be competitive tomorrow.”
