The GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team returned to action on Friday at the Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic for Round 5 of the 2026 FIM World Superbike Championship, with Stefano Manzi and Remy Gardner completing a productive opening day focused on race pace and setup work ahead of the weekend.

It proved to be another positive step forward for rookie Stefano Manzi. The 2025 WorldSSP Champion opened proceedings in Free Practice 1 with the 13th fastest time in 1’32.408, concentrating primarily on race setup and consistency. The Italian continued to improve throughout Free Practice 2, lowering his benchmark by 0.645s to a 1’31.763 and ending the day in 15th position, underlining the steady progress made across both sessions.

Remy Gardner also enjoyed a solid start to the weekend. The Australian rider placed eighth in the morning session with a best lap of 1’32.000 before shifting focus in the afternoon toward long-run pace and race rhythm rather than outright lap times. Gardner still managed to improve to a 1’31.821 in FP2, finishing just behind his teammate in 16th place.

Both riders will return to the track on Saturday for Free Practice 3 before the Tissot Superpole session at 11:15 local time. Race 1 is scheduled to begin later in the afternoon at 14:00.

Stefano Manzi: P15 (1’31.763)
“Overall it was a decent Friday, probably one of the best we’ve had so far this season because we usually struggle more at the start of the weekend. There are definitely positives to take away. Normally we’re able to make a good step from Friday to Saturday, so I hope that will be the case again here. We tried to build on the positives we found in Hungary and they seem to be working here as well, so we’re confident we can continue improving and get closer to the front. We’ll keep building our pace step by step and hopefully have a positive weekend in the Czech Republic.”

Remy Gardner: P16 (1’31.821)
“The position isn’t where we want to be, but overall it wasn’t a bad Friday. We had a solid FP1 this morning and hoped to make another step in the afternoon, but our main focus was on race pace and setup work rather than chasing lap times. There’s still work to do to find more pace, but I’m confident that with a good Superpole we can put ourselves in a position to fight for strong results in the races.”