news: Gardner among pace-setters as Moto2 testing concludes

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Remy Gardner was once again just hundredths of a second off the fastest lap as Moto2’s official pre-season test wrapped up at Qatar.

The Australian ended up third-quickest on Day 3, 0.048s slower than Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS) and 0.035s adrift of Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46), having set a personal best 1:58.703s.

Gardner had been fastest on Day 1 at the Losail International Circuit with a 1:59.074s and fourth on Day 2 on a 1:58.894s which left him 0.062s away from the top of the timesheet.

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“I am very satisfied with the work we did over these three days,” said the 23-year-old, a week out from his first grand prix with Red Bull KTM Ajo.

“Despite the conditions not being so good, in general, we set a strong pace.

“We are clear about things for next weekend, and that is the important thing.

“I want to thank the team for everything. I can’t wait for the first race of the year.”

As was the case on the first two days, the first session saw precious little activity, with only one rider setting a lap time, before a relatively slow second session.

It was the evening session when the pace came as Lowes put in the 1:58.655s which would not be beaten on his 13th lap of 28.

Fourth on the day was Jake Dixon, from Day 2 fast man Xavi Vierge, Bo Bendsneyder, and Nicolo Bulega.

Gardner’s team-mate, Raul Fernandez, was the fastest rookie every day, the latter of which he finished eighth outright, with the top 10 rounded out by Albert Arenas and Aron Canet.

Red Bull KTM ended up on top of Moto3 with a final day one-two, Jaume Masia clocking a 2:04.263s and Pedro Acosta a 2:04.569s.

All three classes are in action when the Qatar Grand Prix takes place from this coming Friday.

Day 3: Losail Official Test

Pos	Num	Rider	Nat	Team	Bike	Fastest lap	Sess.	Gap 1st/Prev
1	22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	1:58.655	D3S3
2	72	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	1:58.668	D3S3	0.013/0.013
3	87	Remy GARDNER	AUS	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	1:58.703	D3S3	0.048/0.035
4	96	Jake DIXON	GBR	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	1:58.837	D3S3	0.182/0.134
5	97	Xavi VIERGE	ESP	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	1:58.871	D3S3	0.216/0.034
6	64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	1:58.904	D3S3	0.249/0.033
7	11	Nicolo BULEGA	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	1:58.975	D3S3	0.320/0.071
8	25	Raul FERNANDEZ	ESP	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	1:59.030	D3S3	0.375/0.055
9	75	Albert ARENAS	ESP	Inde Aspar Team	Boscoscuro	1:59.082	D3S3	0.427/0.052
10	44	Aron CANET	ESP	Inde Aspar Team	Boscoscuro	1:59.205	D3S3	0.550/0.123
11	62	Stefano MANZI	ITA	Flexbox HP 40	Kalex	1:59.331	D3S3	0.676/0.126
12	79	Ai OGURA	JPN	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	1:59.334	D3S3	0.679/0.003
13	6	Cameron BEAUBIER	USA	American Racing	Kalex	1:59.350	D3S3	0.695/0.016
14	16	Joe ROBERTS	USA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	1:59.361	D3S3	0.706/0.011
15	23	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	1:59.473	D3S3	0.818/0.112
16	14	Tony ARBOLINO	ITA	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	1:59.513	D3S3	0.858/0.040
17	9	Jorge NAVARRO	ESP	MB Conveyors Speed Up	Boscoscuro	1:59.516	D3S3	0.861/0.003
18	21	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	1:59.521	D3S3	0.866/0.005
19	40	Hector GARZO	ESP	Flexbox HP 40	Kalex	1:59.536	D3S3	0.881/0.015
20	12	Thomas LUTHI	SUI	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	1:59.658	D3S3	1.003/0.122
21	35	Somkiat CHANTRA	THA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	1:59.676	D3S3	1.021/0.018
22	42	Marcos RAMIREZ	ESP	American Racing	Kalex	1:59.703	D3S3	1.048/0.027
23	7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	1:59.731	D3S3	1.076/0.028
24	37	Augusto FERNANDEZ	ESP	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	1:59.739	D3S3	1.084/0.008
25	13	Celestino VIETTI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	1:59.908	D3S3	1.253/0.169
26	19	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	1:59.969	D3S3	1.314/0.061
27	5	Yari MONTELLA	ITA	MB Conveyors Speed Up	Boscoscuro	2:00.160	D3S3	1.505/0.191
28	24	Simone CORSI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	2:00.336	D3S3	1.681/0.176
29	70	Barry BALTUS	BEL	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	2:00.503	D3S3	1.848/0.167
30	55	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAS	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	2:00.873	D3S3	2.218/0.370