Gardner only four seconds off MotoGP pole time, ‘I don’t know how I did it’
Moto2 championship leader and new MotoGP rider for 2022, Remy Gardner took a brilliant pole during Q2 at Catalunya.
It was a hard-fought battle between Gardner and team-mate Raul Fernandez with both riders looking like the favorite at different stages.
Gardner led the Q2 session early on before Fernandez surpassed his more experienced team-mate.
But with two minutes left, Gardner took back top spot before going even quicker on his final attempt and breaking the 1m 43s barrier - a lap time that was only four seconds of Fabio Quartararo’s MotoGP pole time.
Gardner said: "Yeah it was a good day, I’ve had worse days for sure. It’s always nice to start from pole. I definitely had to push hard to pip Raul [Fernandez], but I managed it in the end.”
Gardner was two tenths quicker than Fernandez in the end, and nearly six tenths faster than Bo Bendsneyder in third - showing what a fantastic effort it was.
The Mugello race winner added: "Yeah I don’t know how I did it. After the first run on the first tyre we were not too bad. Then, chucked the other tyre in after two flying laps and I saw Raul had just pipped me so I went out there and pushed.
"I wasn’t even checking my sectors, just trying to keep everything clean and on the limit, and yeah, I managed to do it.
"Important thing is that we have good pace and it’s a long race so we just need consistency, that’s all."
Better yet for Gardner is the race pace he showed, something Fernandez is aware of and hoping he can match tomorrow.
"I’m very happy. The aim was to try to fight for another front row and we succeeded. We also showed that we have a good pace," added the Moto2 rookie.
"Remy [Gardner] has a pretty strong pace, but we’ll see if we can compete with him. If we don’t manage to, then getting on the podium is a real and reachable goal."
