Yamaha has announced that Remy Gardner will join the manufacturer’s WorldSBK programme from 2023.
Gardner will race with the GRT Yamaha WorldSBK satellite team for next season, but the announcement makes clear that the contract is between the Australian rider and the Japanese manufacturer.
There is no comment from Gardner in the press release, which is most likely down to contractual obligations for the Australian in his current KTM deal.
There is, though, comment from Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Manager, Andrea Dosoli, who said: “Remy is an exciting young talent, who boasts an impressive career inside the Grand Prix paddock. We are obviously delighted to have a rider on board who’s not only shown great progression but has experience at the top level of motorcycle racing.
“We believe that he is the perfect fit for Yamaha’s WorldSBK programme and are keen to see what he can do on one of our R1 WorldSBK machines.”
Dosoli also confirmed that Gardner’s place in GRT for 2023 would be in place of Garrett Gerloff. “We’d also like to thank Garrett Gerloff for his commitment to Yamaha these past three seasons and we wish him all the best for the future,” Dosoli said.
Gerloff will head to the Bonovo Action team in place of the retiring Eugene Laverty.
With KTM, Gardner won five Moto2 Grands Prix in 2021 on his way to the World Championship. That title-winning campaign was enough to secure himself a MotoGP ride with Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing in 2022, but difficult results and accusations from the Austrian manufacturer of unprofessionalism on the part of Gardner led them to decide mid-way through their first season together in the premier class that they would not continue together into a second season.
Gardner is expected to be replaced by KTM’s current leading Moto2 rider, Augusto Fernandez, in the Tech 3 team for 2023, when the French outfit will become Tech 3 GasGas Factory Racing.
With few alternative options in MotoGP, it was clear that Gardner would either return to Moto2 in the hopes of springboarding back to MotoGP, or go to WorldSBK. His decision to join Yamaha’s WorldSBK programme for 2023 makes him the second KTM MotoGP exile to switch paddocks in two seasons after Iker Leucona joined HRC’s factory WorldSBK team for the 2022 season.
Gardner’s position at GRT - who are also expected to replace Kohta Nozane for 2023 - for next season places him in prime position to step up to the factory team in 2024 should Yamaha feel by the end of next season that he has better potential than the current second rider in the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK team, Andrea Locatelli, who has arguably underwhelmed in 2022.
