For the first time in history CEV Repsol’s Moto 3 riders moved out of Spain to compete on foreign soil, at Le Mans in France. Coinciding with the French Moto Grand Prix World Championship, forty-two international riders battled it out in an action packed race.
Race distance was unfortunately reduced by eight laps after it was red flagged following a spectacular incident on the start grid. Luckily none of the riders involved were seriously injured, however for Remy Gardner, who qualified on the third row in seventh, the re-start seemed to ignite his nerves and when the chequered flag went down he found himself in a disappointing in fourteenth place.
“I really don’t know what happened to me. I’d done pretty well in the first start and think I was around fifth before the race was red flagged. My second start wasn’t as good and I was pushed wide – that first corner at Le Mans is full on!! I don’t know if I could have recovered my confidence if we’d had the full seventeen laps, but I’m extremely disappointed in myself because I know I didn’t perform at my best this weekend. I had a great chance to show what I could do in front of the GP crowd and I let myself down,” said a dejected Remy Gardner.
His father Wayne Gardner concurred with Remy’s assessment of his performance and added, “I think Rem let the pressure get to him on race day, which is unusual for him. He has a lot of confidence in his own ability, and even after struggling to learn the Le Mans Circuit, he pulled it out in the end to land on the third row, but his confidence seemed to diminish in the race. As I’ve explained to him there’s a lot more to racing that just your ability. Confidence and experience has a lot to do with it. I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but I continue to remind him that every new low is a learning experience and you can only rebound back if you understand where you went wrong, accept it and try not to repeat your mistakes.”
As always, these young Moto 3 riders produced dramatic and exciting racing. It was an impressive showcase of the CEV Repsol talent within the Moto GP arena. Remy is now looking forward to the next race at Motorland Aragon on 8th June, starting with an official test at the end of this month. “I really like the Motorland Circuit and hope to be able to recover my confidence to increase my position from equal 11th in the championship,’ Remy said.
Congratulations to the truly international top three. Fabio Quartararo (France) stood on the top step of the podium, with Gabriel Rodrigo (Spain) in second, followed by Hiroki Ono (Japan) in third.
