Remy Gardner delivered an impressive comeback in the opening race of the WorldSBK weekend at Donington Park, Great Britain, charging from the back of the grid to finish 12th after a determined ride. Teammate Stefano Manzi also showed promising race pace, but an unfortunate final stint saw him slip to 16th.
After the morning Free Practice 3, Gardner entered the Superpole session with confidence. However, a crash during a promising flying lap ended his qualifying early, forcing him to start Race 1 from the back of the grid.
Despite the setback, the Australian made an excellent launch and immediately gained several positions. Maintaining a strong and consistent pace throughout the 23-lap race, he steadily worked his way through the field, reducing the gap to the riders ahead lap after lap. His determined charge earned him a 12th-place finish, recovering nine positions and securing valuable championship points.
On the other side of the garage, Stefano Manzi faced a difficult qualifying session, lining up 19th on the grid. The reigning 2025 FIM Supersport World Champion made a solid start and matched Gardner's pace for much of the race, climbing through the order. However, while preparing for a final push in the closing laps, an unfortunate sequence of events cost him several positions, leaving him just outside the points in 16th place at the chequered flag.
The GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team will return to the track on Sunday for the final day of action at Donington Park, with the Superpole Race scheduled for 11:10 local time, followed by Race 2 at 15:30.
Remy Gardner – Superpole: P21 / Race 1: P12
"Overall, it was a positive race and we showed strong pace throughout the 23 laps. It's a shame about qualifying because we had the potential for a much better result, and I was on a good lap before the crash, so I'm disappointed about that. Still, I pushed as hard as I could from the start of Race 1 and in the end it paid off. I'm happy we managed to recover some valuable points with a strong comeback. I'd like to thank the whole team for all their hard work after qualifying. It's a decent reward, but tomorrow we'll aim for even more, even if starting from the back of the grid again won't make things easy."
Stefano Manzi – Superpole: P19 / Race 1: P16
"It wasn't the Saturday we were hoping for, but now our focus is on the final day of the weekend. Qualifying was difficult and we couldn't do better than 19th, but our race pace was quite good and I was able to stay close to Remy for most of the race. Then, as I was preparing to make my final push, things didn't go our way and I lost several positions, finishing 16th. It's frustrating because we had the potential to score points. We'll analyse everything tonight and try to make another step forward for tomorrow."
