news: Gardner fastest on Day 1 of official Moto2 test

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Remy Gardner has gone fastest on Day 1 of Moto2’s official pre-season test in Qatar.

Having set the pace for his new team in a private test at Portimao earlier in the month, Gardner was more than a quarter of a second faster than the rest in Losail.

The Sydney-born rider clocked a 1:59.074s in Session 3, which kicked off at 18:00 local time and saw much faster running than the earlier two hit-outs which unfolded in the heat of the day.

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For reference, that time from the new KTM junior was less than a second away from the 1:58.136s with which Joe Roberts secured pole position at last year’s Qatar event.

It was also 0.269s faster than next-best in testing so far, namely Inde Aspar Team’s Aron Canet, while Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) was a further 0.211s further back.

All 30 riders’ respective fastest laps were set in Session 3, with fourth-fastest through ninth- being Sam Lowes, Nicolo Bulega, Xavi Vierge, Marcel Schrotter, Augusto Fernandez, and Jake Dixon.

Gardner’s team-mate, Raul Fernandez, was fastest rookie in 10th position with a 1:59.990s, making him the second-last rider within a second of the Australian’s benchmark.

Moto3 honours went to Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta), who lapped the Losail International Circuit in times as fast as a 2:05.750s.

Testing continues this evening (AEDT).

Day 1: Losail Official Test

Pos	Num	Rider	Nat	Team	Bike	Fastest lap	Sess.	Gap 1st/Prev
1	87	Remy GARDNER	AUS	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	1:59.074	D1S3
2	44	Aron CANET	ESP	Inde Aspar Team	Boscoscuro	1:59.343	D1S3	0.269/0.269
3	16	Joe ROBERTS	USA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	1:59.554	D1S3	0.480/0.211
4	22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	1:59.574	D1S3	0.500/0.020
5	11	Nicolo BULEGA	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	1:59.583	D1S3	0.509/0.009
6	97	Xavi VIERGE	ESP	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	1:59.634	D1S3	0.560/0.051
7	23	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	1:59.869	D1S3	0.795/0.235
8	37	Augusto FERNANDEZ	ESP	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	1:59.914	D1S3	0.840/0.045
9	96	Jake DIXON	GBR	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	1:59.916	D1S3	0.842/0.002
10	25	Raul FERNANDEZ	ESP	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	1:59.990	D1S3	0.916/0.074
11	21	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	1:59.998	D1S3	0.924/0.008
12	12	Thomas LUTHI	SUI	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	2:00.132	D1S3	1.058/0.134
13	24	Simone CORSI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	2:00.166	D1S3	1.092/0.034
14	35	Somkiat CHANTRA	THA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	2:00.166	D1S3	1.092
15	64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team	Kalex	2:00.184	D1S3	1.110/0.018
16	72	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	2:00.232	D1S3	1.158/0.048
17	14	Tony ARBOLINO	ITA	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	2:00.242	D1S3	1.168/0.010
18	79	Ai OGURA	JPN	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	2:00.311	D1S3	1.237/0.069
19	62	Stefano MANZI	ITA	Pons HP 40	Kalex	2:00.346	D1S3	1.272/0.035
20	40	Hector GARZO	ESP	Pons HP 40	Kalex	2:00.462	D1S3	1.388/0.116
21	9	Jorge NAVARRO	ESP	MB Conveyors Speed Up	Boscoscuro	2:00.464	D1S3	1.390/0.002
22	19	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	2:00.517	D1S3	1.443/0.053
23	75	Albert ARENAS	ESP	Inde Aspar Team	Boscoscuro	2:00.728	D1S3	1.654/0.211
24	13	Celestino VIETTI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	2:00.791	D1S3	1.717/0.063
25	6	Cameron BEAUBIER	USA	American Racing	Kalex	2:00.844	D1S3	1.770/0.053
26	7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	2:00.907	D1S3	1.833/0.063
27	42	Marcos RAMIREZ	ESP	American Racing	Kalex	2:00.961	D1S3	1.887/0.054
28	5	Yari MONTELLA	ITA	MB Conveyors Speed Up	Boscoscuro	2:01.024	D1S3	1.950/0.063
29	55	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAS	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	2:01.416	D1S3	2.342/0.392
30	70	Barry BALTUS	BEL	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	2:03.016	D1S3	3.942/1.600