Remy Gardner and Dominique Aegerter returned to action in a tricky opening day at Donington Park, finishing 16th and 18th on combined times but missing out on valuable track time as conditions curtailed them.

In the Free Practice 1 session, both riders were looking to build confidence on their first time on British soil with their Yamaha R1 machines. Unfortunately, drops of rain affected the whole of FP1, with Gardner suffering a small crash at Turn 12 in the early stages. Luckily, the Australian rejoined quickly, but both he and Aegerter weren’t able to fully exploit the session due to tricky track conditions. Finally, the #87 rider was 16th (1’29.149), with the #77 sitting in 18th place (1’30.041).

The GYTR GRT Yamaha pair were then eager to put in some solid laps in the afternoon on the resurfaced Donington Park circuit; but unfortunately, the rain returned, forcing the WorldSBK grid to stay in their garages for the majority of Free Practice 2. In the end, Aegerter was able to exit for a few laps on wet tyres to finish 7th (1’43.937), while Gardner didn’t set a time.

Remy Gardner: 16th (1’29.149)
“We could enjoy a few laps in sort of dry conditions in the morning, and I can say that I like the circuit, but I wish I could have had more laps during the day! I had a small crash as well, but the team put strong efforts to fix the bike and I rejoined very quickly. Unfortunately, conditions then denied us track time in the afternoon. Let’s hope for better weather tomorrow.”

Dominique Aegerter: 18th (1’30.041)
“Thankfully In the morning we were able to do a few laps, but I didn’t push too much as conditions were tricky. I can say the new surface is nice, they made a good job and the track is better actually. We tried to grab some laps in the afternoon on wet tyres, but track conditions were still half dry and half wet. We’ll face a very important FP3 tomorrow, where we need to work on the settings and get ready for the race, hoping for more stable weather.”