Remy Gardner has described a difficult weekend in which he finished 17th in the Argentine MotoGP™ as “tough to accept”.
The MotoGP™ rookie suffered more than most in a difficult weekend, which was shortened to two days after freight delays to the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit.
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A crash on Saturday was a setback for the 24-year-old Sydney-born rider, but while he was back in 22nd place on the grid, he still managed to qualify just 0.006s behind his Tech3 KTM teammate, Raul Fernandez.
“I crashed during Free Practice 2 and lost a bit of confidence at the same time” Gardner said on Saturday.
“I think that we need to improve our qualifying sessions because at the moment, it is our weak point.”
In the 25-lap race on Sunday Gardner made a solid started and came home in 17th place, after a spirited battle with fellow rookie, Darryn Binder (WithU RNF Yamaha).
On a positive note, Gardner finished just one place and 2.9s behind Fernandez.
“I did enjoy the first part of the race; I stayed close to the group and had some nice battles with a couple of riders,” the 2021 Moto2™ World Champion said.
“I struggled more during the second half, unfortunately.
“I am feeling my progress, but everyone is improving too, so I have to stay positive and continue to work for myself and learn the bike. I take each race one by one and don’t look too far.”
While he was a MotoGP™ rookie on the 4.8km track, it does hold good memories for Gardner, who scored his first Moto2™ podium at the track in 2019.
“I enjoy a lot, Termas de Rio Hondo – I have always had good results – so I thought today might have been the turning point for me, but it was not unfortunately so it is a bit tough to accept.
“I stay positive, and results will come.”
Gardner has scored one point from three MotoGP™ and sits in 22nd place in the championship.
Gardner and the rest of the MotoGP™ grid now move to the USA for the next round of the next race in the 2022 World Championship in Texas this weekend, at the Circuit of the Americas, just outside Austin.
