Another piece of the 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship grid has fallen into place. Remy Gardner will stay at the GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team for 2024 as he secured his place on next season’s grid, with the Australian rookie lining up alongside Dominique Aegerter for their second season together. With Aegerter’s renewal announced earlier, but for Yamaha with no team specified, the Independent team now have their line-up secured for next year.
Gardner moved into WorldSBK for 2023 after one year in MotoGP™ with KTM, where he scored 13 points and finished 23rd in the World Championship. His year in MotoGP™ came off the back of his 2021 Moto2™ title success after he beat teammate Raul Fernandez in a season-long fight, with the title decided at the year-ending Valencian Grand Prix. Following his one season in MotoGP™, the Australian switched to WorldSBK where he has scored a best result of sixth, on three occasions including twice last time out at Most.
The 25-year-old has had an up and down rookie season but ended the first part of the season in style with two six-place finishes at the Autodrom Most. He had a strong Indonesian Round despite illness as he battled from the back of the grid to seventh in Race 2 as he ended his first two rounds of the season strongly. Two more top-tens came at Assen and he was again in the top ten in Barcelona as well as Misano. However, Donington and Imola in July would prove to be difficult for the rookie as he failed to score a top-ten finish, before returning there at Most with two P6 finishes on Sunday.
For 2024, he will again partner Aegerter after the two-time World Supersport Champion was announced back in August. Discussing his renewal, the #87 said: “I am really thrilled to announce my renewal with Yamaha for the 2024 season and I believe we have a promising future together. Next year will be my second year with the R1, and I couldn’t be happier with the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team. With an additional year of experience under our belts, I have high hopes for our performance. I already feel right at home, so it’s a great feeling to continue this journey, and I want to express my sincere gratitude to Yamaha for this fantastic opportunity.”
Reacting to Gardner’s extension, Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Manager, Andrea Dosoli, said: “We are happy to be able to announce the extension of our partnership with Remy, and to finalise an unchanged rider line up at the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team for the 2024 season. We can see both the talent and the potential that Remy possesses and, although it’s been something of an inconsistent debut season for him in WorldSBK so far, we remain confident that we can achieve our goals together during the remainder of this season and the next.
“With Remy now onboard, we are looking forward to what promises to be an exciting 2024 season, which Yamaha will be contesting with an incredibly strong line up, with the four riders racing for the Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK and GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK teams counting several World Championship titles between them. This exceptional rider line up comes with significant responsibility for Yamaha, but we are committed to providing a competitive package that matches the talent of our riders and we have secured the resources and support required.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com