Portimao WorldSBK test yields “strong” lap time, “promising” pace for Remy Gardner

Remy Gardner left the Portimao World Superbike test last weekend upbeat about his chances in the upcoming race in the Algarve.

While Gardner, who was fifth-fastest at the end of the second day, admitted that “there’s still work to do” for himself and the GRT Yamaha team ahead of the WorldSBK Portuguese Round on 28–30 March, he was optimistic about his performance in the test.

“It was a positive test, and we managed to try some new things ahead of the race,” Gardner said at the end of the test.

“Unfortunately, we missed some valuable track time due to the weather, but we were still able to complete a good number of laps and gather useful data.

“The lap time was strong, considering it came on a race tyre, and the overall pace was promising, which gives us confidence for the race weekend.

“That said, we know there’s still work to do, and we’ll make sure to be fully prepared for the second round of the season.”

Gardner’s GRT Yamaha teammate Dominique Aegerter had the same frustration as the rest of the field regarding the weather, but he was able to try some “new things” on his Yamaha R1.

“It’s always nice to be back testing, especially at a track where we’ll be racing in just a few weeks,” Aegerter said.

“We tried some new things and gathered valuable data ahead of the second round of the season.

“Unfortunately, we lost some track time due to the rain, but we still managed to put in some good laps and get a decent amount of dry running.

“Now it’s time to focus on what we learned and work towards improving as much as possible for the race weekend. I’m confident we can make a step forward in the right direction.”