Remy Gardner and Dominique Aegerter returned to action today at the Autodrom Most, Czechia, finishing 2nd and 8th on combined times.
The GYTR GRT Yamaha riders faced mixed conditions in the opening Free Practice 1, where both riders initially went out on wet tyres. In the latter stages of the session, the #87 and #77 were able to do some runs on dry compounds, eventually crossing the line and both grabbing Top 5 positions, 4th (1’35.351) and 5th (1’36.016) respectively.
In the afternoon’s Free Practice 2, Gardner and Aegerter took advantage of a fully dry session, primarily focusing on long-distance runs. Both riders appeared to have promising race pace, with Gardner managing to put in quick laps and place himself in a great 2nd place (1’32.379). Aegerter was on his way to a fast lap too, but he crashed out in the final minute without consequences, he instead finished 8th with a 1’32.886.
Remy Gardner: P2 – 1’32.379
“It’s been a tricky day with the weather; we started in the wet and the feeling was not too bad, then we moved to dry asphalt. The Free Practice 2 was fully dry, which was good, and I enjoyed my first day in Most; my last time here was eight years ago, so it wasn’t easy to remember the lines! I’m not completely comfortable with the bike yet, but our race pace feels okay. We went out on used tyres in the afternoon and the feeling overall was good. In the latter stages we tried the harder front tyre; it was fine to push, but not easy to manage over distance. I also lost the front at Turn 2, thankfully I managed to save the crash, but for sure we need to improve the front-end feeling. I’m confident for the weekend, it’s still a long way to go, and we should focus on the qualifying as having a good starting position will be important.”
Dominique Aegerter: P8 – 1’32.886
“The day started in wet conditions, but luckily we had the final minutes of FP1 in the dry, so we could work on the setup from the morning onwards. In the afternoon the weather was perfect and we tried the two Pirelli compounds on the rear. We also worked on the electronics side and I think we found some good solutions, that we will check and confirm tomorrow. We’re closer to the top, where we should be, so it was a good day overall and I hope the weather will stay like this. I’m sorry to the guys for the small crash I had at the end of FP2, I gave them a little bit of extra work. Anyway, we’re all pushing and working together to achieve good results, so we’re moving in the same direction. We’ll try to be in the first two rows tomorrow, so we’ll have a good starting position for Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race.”