A previous stint in MotoGP for Aussie Remy Gardner had a brutal ending. But, as the former Moto2 world champion is gradually getting the hang of the Superbike World Championship, he reveals to AMCN he may just have a chance of returning…
Twenty months is a long time in motorsport. And it’s been an even longer stint in the recent life of Remy Gardner. At the close of 2022 the Australian was contemplating retirement after he was unceremoniously dumped midway through a two-year MotoGP deal with KTM. It was, he said at the time, the end of a dream. Unsurprisingly, the Moto2 world champion from just the year before took the news to heart and was unsure of what the future held. Labelled unprofessional by the Austrian factory when it confirmed he would not continue, those final weeks of the 2022 season were a slog, with the Australian often cutting a dejected figure.
“After 2022 I just felt like retiring,” he told AMCN in an exclusive interview. “I didn’t want to race motorbikes anymore. I’d go home and I didn’t even want to touch a motorbike to go training. I mean, I was obviously going to find some place. But I didn’t know if I was going to get an opportunity because there wasn’t much around. I didn’t want to go back to Moto2 because I had already accomplished what I wanted to do there.
“I wanted to move on to a new challenge.”
Yet thoughts of retirement were banished when Yamaha approached him with an offer to switch to its GRT team in the Superbike World Championship for 2023. Gardner endured a tough start to life aboard the YZF-R1. But after learning his trade and getting to grips with new tyres and a new format, he can now safely say he’s enjoying competition once again.
“Luckily Yamaha came through (at the end of 2022),” he said. “Filippo (Conti – GRT team manager) and Andrea Dosoli (Yamaha Europe road race manager) wanted to talk to us and they gave us this opportunity, which I think has turned out quite good in the end. For them as well, we’re leading the project at the moment. And I’ve just fallen in love with racing again, which is nice.
“I’ve found that passion and love with the Superbike. Honestly, I’m doing more riding than I’ve ever done in my life. If it’s not racing Superbike events, it’s racing enduro, or trials events. I’m just loving it, mate.”
Gardner spoke one-on-one to AMCN on the eve of the British Grand Prix, where he was making a second appearance for Yamaha’s MotoGP program as a wildcard after replacing the injured Alex Rins at the Sachsenring. While factory rider Fabio Quartararo was on a three-week break, Gardner was constantly on the move.
Following on from the German Grand Prix, he completed back-to-back World Superbike rounds at Donington Park and Most, before taking part in a trials event. “The trials event was in Andorra,” he said. “After Silverstone I’ve got Portimao next. Six weeks of competition.”
But such a rigorous schedule, he feels, is fine when the Superbike results are coming in. The rider who spent his childhood in suburban Sydney is still on something of high after a strong weekend in the Czech Republic, where he scored fifth and fourth places.
“Yeah, everything (is determined by results),” he agreed. “If the racing isn’t going good, our life sucks! Even at home, you’re just depressed. It all depends on racing in your life, which is a bit shit, to be honest. If it’s going well, life’s good fun. And I just love riding now.”
It brings to mind former Superbike world champion Neil Hodgson’s comments that life as an elite level motorcycle racer was “90 percent of pain and suffering, 10 percent satisfaction.”
Gardner agrees. “Pretty much,” he said. “There are more downs than ups in racing unfortunately. It’s about managing those feelings, emotions and stress. But when it goes good, there is no other feeling like it.”
Finding his WorldSBK feet
There was a good deal for Gardner to learn at the start of 2023: a new bike, tyres, schedule and
race paddock.
“The biggest thing is the tyres,” he said back at the Sachsenring. “And the format, with three races per weekend.” Unsurprisingly it took a little time to get up to speed.
Despite fighting toward the pointy end in his first-ever Superpole race at Phillip Island, he was some way off the front. Yet by last European summer, results started to improve. After a pair of sixth places at Most, he finished eight of the final 12 races inside the top 10, including a fine fourth in the final outing of the year at Jerez. But, crucially, he was just 1.3sec off the victory.
“Honestly, I’m not a Pedro Acosta,” Gardner said. “I can’t just jump on a bike and be there at the front; I’m more like a diesel! In Moto2 it took me a few years to get my bearings and, in the end, I was very strong.
“Once I get my head around everything, I can be pretty fast and consistent. This year definitely solidified what we learned last year.”
There’s been a clear step forward in 2024 as Gardner feels more comfortable aboard Yamaha’s YZF-R1. He was rewarded with a first podium in the class at Assen after a solid weekend (fourth in the two other outings) and sat seventh overall at the season’s halfway point, just two places and 33 points behind Andrea Locatelli, Yamaha’s top performer so far.
“I’ve still got stuff to learn in Superbike,” he said. “I can learn how to manage the tyres better and how to get the most out of the Pirellis and the bike. Every race we go to, I feel more like, I know what’s happening and now we need to do this, and with the bike we need to do this, or that I need to pull my finger out of my arse. Everything’s clearer now and it’ll get clearer in the future also.”
Gardner forms an impressive four-rider stable of Yamaha riders. Along with Dominique Aegerter, and Pata duo Jonathan Rea and Andrea Locatelli, there is plenty of top Superbike talent against which he can measure his speed.
“It’s nice. Andrea is riding really well this year. He’s improved again. He’s a bit like a diesel as well and he’s been there for a few years. Johnny is who he is. If you can be in front of him then it’s always a good feeling. And Domi has his day when he can be really fast. Including me, they’ve got four fast riders. If you can be on top of those guys it’s always good.”
And Gardner really comes alive when talking about the frenetic nature of world Superbike racing. Asked whether he prefers the more relaxed atmosphere there afforded by its open paddock, he quickly interjected; “The actual racing is way more cutthroat than MotoGP! It’s gnarly, man, insane! You better get your elbows out – otherwise you’re just going to get beat up. You have to ride so aggressively, which is stressful. It’s definitely stressful when you’re racing, but when you’ve finished, you’re like, ‘F**k, that was f**king sick, that was awesome!’
“But the pressure for me is the same. You’re still out there racing for a job, you’re still racing for bonuses, and you’re still out there racing trying to win races and championships. Probably the atmosphere is a bit more chilled in the paddock and a lot more old-school, which is nice. I enjoy it, it’s chilled. I turn up at the weekend and I think, ‘Okay, I’m going to have fun, enjoy myself and push when it matters’.”
Another GP chance
Alex Rins’ enormous crash in the Dutch TT not only broke four bones in the Spaniard’s right foot and another in his wrist, it forced the Japanese manufacturer to quickly search for a replacement for the following weekend’s round at the Sachsenring. A call was quickly put in to the Australian.
“It was a little bit of shock, to be honest,” recalled Gardner in Germany of the last-minute call-up. “I was riding motocross, hanging out with Tito Rabat and having a nice easy day. I didn’t expect that call.”
Gardner acquitted himself well all weekend, giving useful feedback on a new evolution of Yamaha’s ride height device, before running competitively in the race’s first half. His pace only fell away once his tyres went off.
In Silverstone, he felt his second MotoGP call-up underlined Yamaha’s growing trust in his abilities. “It shows they’re trusting me and what I say,” he said. “Hopefully that comes from the word passed down from Superbike. I think we’ve made good improvements to the bike from my data. We’ve got a fairly clear idea what we need to move forward. What I said in the Sachsenring, my comments were quite decent and I think they were quite happy with that. If they’re giving me another shot, they can’t be too unhappy with me. It’s always nice to know they care about what I say.”
In what ways are his Yamaha YZF-R1 and Yamaha’s MotoGP YZR-M1 prototype similar? “Night and day,” came the response. “Don’t even compare it, mate! You’re just starting from zero. New bike. Different brakes. New tyres. Different engines. Much more horsepower. The electronics are so different. Aero. Ride-height devices. Launch-control things and start devices…
“Maybe the front end on the GP is stable and turns in pretty well. The feeling on the front is quite good, kind of like the R1 sometimes. Sometimes it’s not. But most times it’s pretty good on the R1.
“We put Fabio’s setting in at the Sachsenring and that’s what I rode. We didn’t have time, to be honest. I just rode the bike and had to adapt myself to see what I needed to go fast. I check his data and try and copy what he’s doing. There were actually one or two corners where I was a little bit quicker, which is nice. The corners where you have to steer it with the gas, I was a bit quicker. But he’s very strong on the front, on braking and on corner entry. He’s got a lot of confidence in the front-end.”
Since his move to world Superbike, the speed of MotoGP machines has reached dizzying levels. The German GP was a massive 32 seconds quicker than his previous premier-class appearance at the Sachsenring in 2022. “Definitely, the pace is fast,” he said. “The top manufacturers have made leaps and bounds. Rider level is high, manufacturer level is high. It’s the pinnacle right now.”
What’s the future hold?
What does this busy schedule mean for Gardner’s 2025 plans? “At the moment, I think I’m going to be staying where I am. I did have an option with Yamaha. At the moment not too much is going to be happening.”
But there is a seat going at the new Pramac Yamaha team for next year. Could that be an option? “There is a little bit of interest there for the GP ride,” he admitted. “Let’s see how things play out. But I’m not thinking about it too much.”
Would a return to MotoGP interest him? “If the opportunity’s the right one, yeah, for sure,” he said. “But it has to be the correct opportunity and a good enough incentive to leave racing in Superbike. It’s going so well and I’m enjoying myself. In the future I can see myself fighting for those titles as well. We’ll see.”
Considering how his previous spell in the GP paddock came to an abrupt end, there must be a feeling of wanting to prove his doubters wrong. Remy Gardner agrees.
“For sure. If you asked me a year ago, I’d have said, ‘I don’t care and I don’t want to know about it.’ But I do a little bit. Just to kind of stick it to the people who didn’t believe. I’m not going to make decisions based on vengeance and trying to prove a point. No. I’m going to make a decision on what’s best for me and what I think will be fun, and what the deal is first.”
But the 26-year old hasn’t had much time to consider such things. Even his beloved workshop in Vilanova, just south of Barcelona, where he works on and does up vintage cars, has been closed up of late.
“It’s pretty much closed up. I’m flat out, mate, with training. Six weeks in a row at the moment so unfortunately… Maybe in the future, we’ll see.”
Remy Gardner’s take on his good mate, Pedro Acosta
Few people in motorcycle racing know Pedro Acosta quite like Remy Gardner. The pair were teammates in 2021 (Gardner in Aki Ajo’s Moto2 set-up, with the young Spaniard making his Moto3 debut) and struck up a close friendship almost immediately thanks to Gardner’s proficiency in speaking Spanish.
Acosta was able to offer up some sage advice to the Aussie on the eve of Gardner’s crucial bow at the Algarve GP at the tail end of 2021, a race that all-but-sealed his Moto2 title.
“He told me ‘there are moments that define you, or you define the moment’,” Gardner recalled later that day. “A philosopher and he’s like this little kid. I was like, ‘Yeah, alright (laughing)!’”
Having spent a year in Tech3’s MotoGP operation aboard KTM’s RC16, Gardner felt he was in a position to offer his pal some advice as he began a relentless six days of preseason testing at Sepang in February. Yet Acosta’s times immediately showed he had paid little heed to Gardner’s words.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said of the start to Acosta’s year.
“I saw his times on the first day in Malaysia and I thought, ‘Well, I was wrong!’ (laughs) Seriously, I told him, ‘Pedro, just chill. Take it step by step. Maybe halfway through the year you can fight for top tens.’ F***, he was on the podium at the second race. I said, ‘Alright, you’re the man!’
“He’s very mentally mature for such a young age. In other things he’s a bit childish, which is funny, but on the bike he’s very mature. He learns so fast it’s incredible.”
And knowing Acosta’s habits away from the track, and how much he puts into his racing, it’s not so much of a surprise to see the success he’s having.
“He puts in so much work,” Gardner said. “He just rides and rides and rides. That obviously gives him that good feeling. He’s able to always just ride on the edge of the tyre and on the edge of the limit. He puts in a lot of work and he deserves it.”
