Official: Remy Gardner joins GRT Yamaha for 2023 WorldSBK season
The reigning Moto2 world champion will join WorldSBK after just one season in MotoGP with the Tech 3 KTM team, replacing the outgoing Garrett Gerloff at GRT Yamaha.
Despite showing flashes of potential in his rookie MotoGP campaign, Gardner and KTM appeared destined for a split as the relationship between the two sides deteriorated in recent months.
Gardner, who has since been replaced for next season by Pol Espargaro, follows the likes of current WorldSBK championship leader Alvaro Bautista, Iker Lecuona and Loris Baz as riders to make the direct switch from MotoGP to Superbikes in recent years.
“Remy is an exciting young talent, who boasts an impressive career inside the Grand Prix paddock,” said Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Manager, Andrea Dosoli. “We are obviously delighted to have a rider on board who’s not only shown great progression but has experience at the top level of motorcycle racing.
“We believe that he is the perfect fit for Yamaha’s WorldSBK programme and are keen to see what he can do on one of our R1 WorldSBK machines.
“We’d also like to thank Garrett Gerloff for his commitment to Yamaha these past three seasons and we wish him all the best for the future.”
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Although Gardner looks set to be the only MotoGP rider to switch to WorldSBK for 2023 - earlier this season it appeared as though several others were in contention to do the same - the 2023 grid continues to get stronger with the addition of Gardner.
The Australian will ride a full factory R1-spec Yamaha, the same machine as reigning Superbike champion Toprak Razgatlioglu and Andrea Locatelli.
Gardner is not the only big addition Yamaha could make as Kohta Nozane is also expected to depart the team, with Tarran Mackenzie, Dominique Aegerter and Lorenzo Baldassarri all names that have been highlighted.
