Tech3 KTM Factory Racing’s Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner held on today in an eventful Gran Premio Gryfyn di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, which saw Raul Fernandez being back in the points as he finished thirteenth, while Remy Gardner settled in P19.
After a rather disappointing qualifying day which saw them both start from the back of the grid, KTM riders Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner made decent starts to their San Marino Grand Prix. Avoiding the early lap crashes, Raul Fernandez set off well as he found himself in P16 within two laps, just behind his teammate Remy Gardner who powered to P15 from P24.
After a short chase, the Spaniard eventually overtook the Moto2 World Champion to find himself chasing Italian Andrea Dovizioso, a great reference on the Italian layout. Starting from the back of the grid, he passed the checkered flag in P13, a great effort for the rookie who is back in the points for the first time since Sachsenring. Halfway through the race, Remy got a long lap penalty which saw him losing time and his positions. He finished in P19. Next, Tech3 KTM Factory Racing will head to Aragon for the fifteenth round of the season, the last European race before flying again overseas.
-
Raul Fernandez
Position: 13th
Championship: 24th
Points: 8
"We did a really good job today and all weekend long to be fair. We have had a good race pace and worked well with the medium tyres and I felt comfortable on the bike. I have finally found the confidence on the bike to brake as I want in order to ride at my full potential, so this has been a very positive point of the weekeend. Other than that, it was a tough race physically today because I was just behind Andrea Dovizioso and it was really hot. I am happy with my thirteenth place, we took a step, and I think that the aim is now to try finishing all the races within the top 15."
-
Remy Gardner
Position: 19th
Championship: 23rd
Points: 9
"It was a tough weekend and race. I had a rather good start and found myself within the Top 15 from P24, with a good race pace. I had a long lap penalty so I lost the rhythm and positions to finish in P19. We have a test here now and I am hoping that we will be able to improve a few things so we can try to finish the season well."
-
Hervé Poncharal
Team Manager
"What an exciting MotoGP race we just had here in Misano. We struggled yesterday in the qualifying session because of the weather conditions which got us back-grid-starts, but we believed that we had potential to deliver good races. In the Warm Up this morning, both Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner were in good shape.
They both did not have an easy start but they managed to avoid problems and started gaining positions. In addition, they both had interesting lap times and they were close to the top riders.
Raul had a strong rhythm all race long, between 1’33.1 and 1’33.3, behind Andrea Dovizioso, a big reference here at the Misano World Circuit, so this is very positive. Finishing thirteenth is a really good result for us and it rewards well the weekend we had. I would like to thank Raul for his great attitude all weekend. Except for the QP1 which was a miss, I would say that this is the best weekend so far we’ve had with him.
Remy Gardner was strong too and close to this teammate. Unfortunately, he suffered from arm pump problems within the last part of the race and struggled to handle his bike. He got a long lap penalty and lost positions, which is a great shame because getting in the points was possible for him.
Thanks to both riders, we learned a lot as a team this weekend, and it will be interesting to see what they can do at the next race in Aragon."
