Remy Gardner: “I lost a bit of skin, but I'll be alright”

Remy Gardner completed his first day on a MotoGP bike since 2022, and first ever on a Yamaha M1, with the 20th fastest lap time during Friday practice for the German GP.

That put him ahead of the Hondas of Stefan Bradl and Joan Mir, while only one-second from team-mate Fabio Quartararo in 14th.

But the day wasn’t without incident for the Australian, who has taken his first WorldSBK podiums for GYTR Yamaha this season, after being one of ten riders to fall in the afternoon hour.

“Obviously, I struggled a little bit in FP1 adapting to the Michelins and the bike,” Gardner said. “Before the [afternoon] Practice session we did a little work on the riding by checking data and readjusting the electronics and, actually, it was not going half bad.

“I think the gap [+1.783s] is not too bad for having spent just two hours on the bike, it's not horrible. Maybe we could have done a 1'20.9s, or something like that, if I hadn't gone down at the end and would have managed to put the whole lap together, which I think is respectable.

“On that last lap, I went into Turn 13 a bit hot, and with the slipstream I locked the front tyre and went down pretty early on braking. I didn't expect it.

“Unfortunately, my little pinky [finger] got caught under the handlebar for a split second there, and I lost a bit of skin, but I'll be alright.

“I think a points finish may be a bit much to ask this weekend. If I can battle with other riders and have a good fight in the race and enjoy myself, in the end, that's the most important.”

Team director Massimo Meregalli said: “Remy did a good job, apart from maybe the crash at the end. It's not easy to fill in for a MotoGP rider on such short notice. Gigs like this come with a lot of pressure, but he handled it well.

“He's new to our team and to riding the M1, but he already did good lap times on the first day, and we're impressed.

“We're glad his crash at the end was not more serious, and we're looking forward to continue our work with him tomorrow, gathering as much data as possible.”

Gardner spent the 2022 season in MotoGP as a Tech3 KTM rider, taking a best finish of 11th and 15th place in Germany.