Tech3 KTM Factory Racing’s duo went on track for the fifth and final day of the week today at Sepang International Circuit. Following an intensive week of testing here in Malaysia with three days of Shakedown and the Official Sepang Test, Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner slowed down the intensity on Sunday and completed 24 and 35 laps respectively.

Just like the rest of the MotoGP class, Raul Fernandez got an early start at 10:00 local time this morning to take advantage of the lower track temperatures. All the riders started the day very fast, and Raul rapidly improved his lap-time from yesterday (1’59.258) on his thirteenth lap, and then registered 1’59.180 a few laps later, placing him in nineteenth position at the end of the first two hours of the day. A heavy rain throughout the afternoon stopped the action on track for a while, but the Spaniard showed his willingness to ride on a wet track and he was the first to come out of the box to get a few laps in. The rookie finishes the Official Test only 1.049 seconds from the top position.

It was an early start too for Remy Gardner who also managed to improve his lap-time from yesterday just five laps after leaving the box. He continued to improve progressively throughout the morning, crossing the line on lap 17 in 1’59.697. Towards the end of the morning, he reached his best lap-time of the week with 1’59.348 on his thirty-fourth lap, just before calling it a day for the Test week here in Malaysia. After a very intensive week, the Australian was struggling with his injured wrist and decided to get some rest in order to take care of his physical condition. The Tech3 KTM Factory Racing is now headed to a new destination, Indonesia, to participate in another three days of testing at the new Pertamina Mandalika Circuit.

Raul Fernandez

Position: 19th

Time: 1'59.180

Laps: 24

"We end the test with less than one second from the first position, it is incredible how close the MotoGP category is. All the manufacturer riders were here on track and it is going to be an amazing championship. KTM did an excellent job this week and I am really happy with all the work done here in Sepang. Step by step, I learn and I get closer to the factory riders, so this is what matters for me at the moment. During the tests, everybody is fast, but it will be different during the races, and I am well aware of that. For now, I think that we did a very good job here in Malaysia."

Remy Gardner

Position: 23rd

Time: 1'59.348

Laps: 35

"It has been a very busy week of testing. Malaysia was fun but I did roughly two hundred laps here, so I have to admit that I look forward to changing the track and going to Mandalika. We tried a lot of different things this week, especially during the Official Test, and we managed to find some interesting points with the bike. Halfway through the day today, we decided to stop because I was struggling with my physical condition and especially with my wrist, after four full days on track, and it is important for me to focus on my injury’s recovery. I still managed to go faster this morning and I improved my lap-time, which I am happy with. We are still a bit far away from the top positions, but considering the circumstances, it is not bad at all."

Hervé Poncharal

Team Manager

"The Tech3 KTM Factory Racing team concludes five days of very intensive testing here in Sepang. Our two rookies enjoyed this opportunity to get additional track time and took full advantage of it. I would like to thank them for their hard work, their dedication and their never give-up attitude all week long. All this time spent on track and in the box with their respective teams has provided important feedback to KTM’s engineers, and it will be crucial to get ready for the first race of the season in Qatar in just a month.

We saw improvement every day for both of them: the lap-times improved as well as the feeling on their KTM RC16 and it was the main target of this test. Although the final positions in the table are not the most exciting, Raul finished just 1.049 seconds from the top, and Remy 1.217, which is an amazing achievement for two rookies as the time-sheet has never been so close! We have to bear in mind that nowadays, we compare the riders with thousandths instead of hundredths as the category has become so much more competitive over the last few years.

We aimed to gather laps, data, experience, understand the electronics, the engine, the chassis, the Michelin tyres, the carbon brakes, and this is what we did. It is now time to get some rest for the riders and the entire crew, and I believe that after more than two hundred laps each, both riders are looking forward to going to Mandalika and riding on a different circuit.

I would like to thank both Raul and Remy, as well as the entire crew, who all worked tirelessly all week around to get the job done in a very efficient way, and I believe that KTM’s development team will take advantage of all the information we passed on. I can already say that this is going to be a very exciting season for our team."