Alessandro Delbianco will join Remy Gardner as the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK team return to action at Circuit de Nevers, Magny-Cours, for the eighth round of the 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship.
Delbianco joins the team as a replacement for regular rider Dominique Aegerter, who was injured in a training incident in Austria last week.
The Swiss rider sustained fractures to multiple ribs and injured his shoulder in the incident and underwent successful surgery to stabilise these injuries on Friday. He has since returned home to continue his recovery, and his condition will be assessed ahead of the Cremona event, scheduled to take place between 20-22 September.
Delbianco, who will race with the #52 this weekend, is currently racing in the CIV Italian Superbike Championship for the DmR Racing Yamaha team, currently second in the championship, he narrowly missed out on taking the title fight to the final round last time out in Mugello. He is no stranger to WorldSBK, having completed 42 races in the class but it will be his first time riding the R1 in the World Championship.
On the other side of the garage, Gardner is keen to enjoy a strong weekend following a solid first half of the season. One year ago, the Aussie rider enjoyed a productive weekend, making promising progress throughout the weekend to enjoy a strong Race 2 in France. With more experience in the bag, the #87 and his crew are confident to face a good round in Magny-Cours.
The weekend schedule will see Superpole session and Race 1 going underway at 11:00 and 14:00 local time on Saturday, while Superpole Race and Race 2 on Sunday having their start at 11:00 and 15:30 local time.
Remy Gardner: "First of all, I would like to wish a speedy recovery to Domi, I'm very sorry for what happened, and I hope to see him here again as soon as possible. At the same time, I would like to welcome Alessandro in to our team. We're finally back after some weeks off. I was able to recharge the batteries, and I cannot wait to be back on track and to see again all the guys. Last year in Magny-Cours it wasn't the easiest weekend at all, but we kept working very hard making solid progress and I'm confident we can enjoy a good round there."
Alessandro Delbianco: "I'm very grateful for this opportunity, but at the same time, I would like to wish a speedy recovery to Dominique. I'll try to enjoy as much as I can this weekend, aware that it'll be a great experience. I would also like to say a massive thank you to Filippo and Yamaha for thinking of me as an option for this round, I can't wait to be on track Friday morning for the first session of free practice."
Filippo Conti (Team Principal): "We're very sorry for what happened to Dominique, we wish him a very speedy recovery, hoping to have him back as soon as possible in the garage. At the same time, we would like to welcome Alessandro with us. We're happy we'll be able to give him this opportunity and we believe he'll be a great addiction to our team, aware of his talent and his experience on the Yamaha R1 machine as he already proved in the Italian Championship where he's having a strong season there. Moreover, we're confident we'll be able to enjoy a solid weekend with Remy; we had a good first half of the season and we're keen to enjoy a strong season finale and to make further progress, so we cannot wait to be back on track."
Andrea Dosoli (Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing & Motorsport R&D Manager): “Firstly, we have to wish a very speedy recovery to Dominique and we hope that he is back to fitness as soon as possible. Alessandro has been enjoying a strong season in the CIV with the DmR Racing Yamaha Team, he was in contention for the championship until the penultimate round, where he fought hard to keep his hopes alive but just missed out on taking it to the final round. He has some WorldSBK experience and is familiar with the R1. Thank you to the DmR Yamaha team for allowing him to join us in Magny Cours.”
