Tech3 KTM Factory Racing kicked off its European campaign today at the rainy Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, where the Grande Prémio Tissot de Portugal is being held. Following an intense rain this morning, the MotoGP class kicked off its weekend on a wet track, while the afternoon session saw a heavy rain join the party. 

Eager to comeback racing in Europe, Australian Remy Gardner was looking forward to trying the Portuguese rollercoaster on his KTM RC16. Often comfortable in rainy conditions, the rookie seemed to feel confident on the track very quickly this morning and finished the morning session in P13, with a best lap time of 1’51.820 on his fifteenth lap, only 0.172 seconds from the Top 10. Although the goal was to improve in the afternoon, the weather did not agree and it rained heavily when Free Practice 2 came around, meaning that the number 87 was unable to improve his lap time. He still managed to ride a good amount of laps (33 in total today) and gained a lot of experience in the wet. Remy finishes the day in P15 overall, and will look to continue his progress tomorrow.

For Raul Fernandez, it was also an opportunity to take experience in the wet with his MotoGP bike. In the morning, the Spaniard rode eighteen laps, split into two runs. He managed to improve all his sectors during the second run, finishing the first session in P21 with a best lap time of 1’52.258. The afternoon session was a different story for Raul who did not manage to feel as comfortable as his teammate when the heavy rain came around. His time spent on track was considerably reduced compared to the earlier session, and he was unable to improve. He finishes the day in P22, and will be looking forward to qualifying day on Saturday.

Remy Gardner

Position: 15th

Time: 1'51.820

Laps: 33

"Today was a good day and I gained a lot of experience in the wet. I started to understand the tyres a bit more, and enjoyed riding the bike a lot as well. I expected more improvement for FP2, but it ended up raining a lot, so we did not manage to do so. It was a fairly good day anyway, and I look forward to tomorrow, which will be drier hopefully."

Raul Fernandez

Position: 22nd

Time: 1'52.258

Laps: 27

"The day was difficult in wet conditions. It was different from what we had planned so we did not do as many kilometers as we wanted to, but we still managed to do enough, which is a good experience in the rain. We had two different sessions in FP1 and FP2, with the afternoon session being completely wet. I am happy overall, and this is just the first day. It is important that I did not crash, and tomorrow we will try to improve and gain positions."