Remy Gardner and Dominique Aegerter returned to action with a two-day test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain, ahead of the second round of the season next week which will take place at the same venue.
The GYTR GRT Yamaha pair enjoyed valuable track time throughout the sessions in the Supported Test with track action running uninterrupted between 10:00 and 18:00 local time. Gardner and Aegerter completed 304 laps combined, building confidence and pace.
On Day 1, Gardner had good vibes despite a small crash in the middle of the day. That didn't prevent the Aussie rider from clocking a good number of laps - 72 in total - and record a decent time to sit sixth at the end of the day (1'41.671). Aegerter prioritised working on feeling and laying groundwork for the future, rather than going for a flying lap. Following 78 laps, the Swiss rider set a personal best of 1'42.272.
Both GYTR GRT Yamaha riders worked on long distance runs on the second and final day. After missing some track time in the early stages due to damp track, Gardner had 76 laps in total, proving to have solid pace; at the end of the day he finished 11th on a 1'41.044 with a lot of potential left untapped.
The same can be said for teammate Aegerter, who was 13th after 78 laps (1'41.178); the Swiss rider completing solid runs to be ready for the race weekend.
Remy Gardner: 1'41.044 - 148 laps
"It was a solid test overall, we did some good work in my opinion. We focused on long distance runs and I can say I'm satisfied with the job done, it was a productive test. Unfortunately, a small crash slowed the whole process on the first day; despite having a decent feeling with the hard soft front tyre, it probably got cold and I ended up crashing at Turn 5. That didn't prevent us from improving and our pace is good, even though we know there's still margin to improve. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to put together all my best sectors during my fast lap, but we can be confident for the race weekend."
Dominique Aegerter: 1'41.178 - 156 giri
"It was nice to jump back on the bike after the first round of the season, also for my body. My physical condition is getting better and better, that's a very positive aspect overall. We mainly focused on looking for a good base setup that could work in any condition, then moved on working on long distance trying different solutions. We did a good job but there's still some work to do, but that was a positive test, it was great to have some track time to try different things. "
