Dominique Aegerter and Remy Gardner took home valuable points in the first race of the seventh round of the 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship at Autodromo do Algarve, Portimão, Portugal, finishing ninth and tenth respectively.

In the morning, the GYTR GRT Yamaha riders put the final free practice session to good use, getting ready for the Tissot Superpole qualifier. Afterwards, in the 15-minute session, Aegerter rode strongly, putting in a quick lap on his first run, but he was caught by a yellow flag on his second flying lap meaning his lap time, which would have seen him secure eighth on the grid, cancelled. The Swiss rider still improved his lap time straight after, but as the tyre no more offered optimal grip he couldn’t climb higher than tenth (1’40.505). Gardner was not far from those in front, however a very close qualifying session saw him secure a 14th placed start (1’40.608).

As Race 1 got underway at 18:00 local time, Aegerter and Gardner encountered a challenging getaway. The GYTR GRT Yamaha duo showed consistent pace throughout the 20-lap contest, with Aegerter improving a number of positions to finish ninth, while his team-mate Gardner crossed the line just behind in tenth to score valuable points.

Dominique Aegerter – Superpole: P10 / Race 1: P9
“Unfortunately a yellow flag denied us a better starting grid position, but overall Race 1 was not too bad. Of course this is not where we want to be, but we are making progress and I hope we’ll be able to make one more step forward tomorrow for the remaining races. It’ll be also very important to recover now as the heat takes a lot of energy out of your body, but we’ll be ready for the action on Sunday.”

Remy Gardner – Superpole: P14 / Race 1: P10
“That’s a challenging day for sure, overall I’m happy let’s say with the race I’ve done, but the result is not fantastic. Hopefully we’ll be able to improve tomorrow, looking for a good sprint race and Race 2. We’ll keep working pushing very hard to find more pace, let’s stay positive for tomorrow.”