Remy Gardner, the defending Moto2 title holder, says his debut season in MotoGP with Tech3 KTM has been “a great slap in the face,” as he “anticipated better.”
The year before, the Australian defeat Ajo KTM fellow player Raul Fernandez to an engrossing Moto2 crown, earning him an advancement to the premier class with the Austrian manufacturer. Gardner is the son of 1987 500cc former champion Wayne Gardner.
Both racers have battled for form at the beginning of 2022, being placed at Tech3 on factory-backed machinery with Fernandez.
Gardner is the only one of the two to have scored a point after 4 races, and Fernandez is the only one to have qualified within the top 20.
Gardner’s pre-season was hampered by a fractured wrist suffered during coaching, which has hampered him in the early races.
Gardner, though, acknowledges that he anticipated more from his year so far after finishing 20th at the Americas GP, 42.442s behind the winner.
“I expected a little better if I’m honest with you, seeing what other guys have done in the past and I think how we finished the Moto2 year so dominant,” he said.
“So, if I’m honest with you I expected more.
“It’s been a really tough first few races, hopefully getting back to Europe can bring a bit of stability. It was a big slap in the face, that’s for sure.”
The peculiar configuration of the course was at odds with the RC16, and all KTM riders suffered throughout the COTA weekend.
Only Brad Binder of the four KTMs scored points in 12th, and Gardner is optimistic that the Austrian marque – which triumphed in Indonesia with Miguel Oliveira and was 2nd in Qatar with Binder – has learned from its mistakes at COTA.
“For KTM, I’m hoping they can take something away from here on how to improve the package that we have,” he added.
“They’ve got four riders giving their best and got two amazing riders at the factory team and one of them not in the points, and we’re obviously finishing at the end of the pack, giving our 200% every corner.
“Hopefully they’ve got good data from that and they can try and think of a way to move forward.
“For sure it’s not the easiest track for KTM, we’ve seen in the past.”
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