Dominique Aegerter recovered to 11th in Race 1 at Magny-Cours, while Remy Gardner battled hard to score points, finishing 15th following the challenging 20-lap contest.

The riders returned to action in the morning for Free Practice 3, aiming to clock more laps as they gain data on French soil, and both managed to improve their pace. A small crash didn’t prevent Gardner from moving up to 8th in the latter stages (1’36.865), with his teammate Aegerter in 10th (1’36.979).

Afterwards, the GYTR GRT Yamaha duo felt ready to attack the Tissot Superpole qualifier, although the #77 couldn’t manage more than 12th (1’36.557). On the other side of the garage, the #87 suffered an early crash, and despite rejoining quickly he couldn’t climb higher than 15th (1’36.706).

In Race 1, Aegerter and Gardner did their best to recover as many places as possible. The Swiss rider, who has plenty of support from fans at Magny-Cours, showed great speed in the first half of the 20-lap race, firmly placing himself in the Top 10. He battled to keep hold of this spot, only dropping one position right at the end of the race to finish 11th. Meanwhile, Gardner worked to improve his pace each lap to cross the line in 15th.

Dominique Aegerter – Superpole: P12 / Race 1: P11
“In the morning we made a good step, even though unfortunately the qualifying position wasn’t what we hoped for. In Race 1 I felt we had very good pace, and I was starting to catch those in front. Unfortunately, we just missed out on a Top 10, but we’ll be working hard to make further improvements tomorrow. I’m happy with the feeling of my arm and I could ride strongly each lap, that gives me confidence for the remaining races.”

Remy Gardner – Superpole: P15 / Race 1: P15
“It was a tough day, unfortunately we couldn’t convert our strong pace into results. We tried to change something but the results we achieved weren’t what we were looking for. However, we still managed to gain valuable data for tomorrow’s races, so we’re confident that we can have a good Sunday.”