Gardner, Fernandez set for ‘level playing field’ at Malaysian MotoGP

Tech3 KTM boss Herve Poncharal expects that his rookie MotoGP riders will enjoy something of a “level playing field” this weekend at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

MotoGP’s 19th round of its season takes the field back to Sepang after a Shakedown Test and Official Test there during pre-season, in late-January into early-February.

While it is not the first time that Tech3 duo Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez return to a venue at which they have already ridden the KTM RC16, having partaken in last year’s mid-season Misano test, it is still something of a first.

Then, both were getting their very first taste of premier class machinery, which they found a vastly different proposition to what they had been riding in Moto2 at the time.

The return to Sepang will thus be somewhat more comparable to what the Australian and the Spaniard have experienced already.

“Just a few days after the positive weekend we have had in Phillip Island with both Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez, we are already ready for the next round in Sepang, Malaysia,” said Team Manager Poncharal.

“This time, both riders will already know the track very well following the winter tests and will have references with Michelin tyres, the carbon brakes, et cetera.

“Although it will probably not be a massive advantage, I hope that at least it will be on a level playing field with the rest of the class.

“They both had good feelings on their bikes in February, and all we can hope is that they have this feeling back, as they are both looking to feed from the positives of the last race in Australia.”

The usefulness of the testing mileage for Gardner may well be diminished to some extent by the fact he was riding in February with a recently fractured wrist.

However, he had a similar take to his team boss.

“We already tried the Sepang International Circuit during the winter tests back in February this year, so we will already have experience with the bike and information to start from, which is already a bonus compared to the last three overseas races we have just done,” said the Sydney-born pilot.

“I hope that we will be able to fight for points, and we will see if we get lucky with some rain, which might help us.”

Gardner collected a championship point in his first and potentially only Australian MotoGP race by finishing 15th just days ago at Phillip Island.

Practice at Sepang starts tomorrow.