Remy Gardner showed what he was made of today winning round four of the Spanish based Campeonato Mediterráneo de Velocidad (CMV), in the 250 Moto3 class.
For the first time this season Remy was on top of the podium and started the race in pole position after two successful qualifying sessions on Saturday.
“I wasn’t sure if I could stay in front at the beginning of the race today but once I got into it I knew I could do it. I got to the first corner first which I was hoping for. There was a bit of dicing for the lead for a while but I kept my head down and got away. I thought they were right behind me but apparently I had a pretty good lead and went over the line 1.9 seconds in front. I’m so happy,” Remy said after the race.
The CMV is considered the most competitive junior road racing in the world at the moment and Remy’s win today places him second in the championship behind teammate Maria Herrera. He missed out on points in the first two rounds because he was riding in the Pre GP125 championship at the beginning of the season, but after disappointing mechanical failures he switched to a Moriwaki 250 and the Moto3 class. With three more 2011 rounds to go, the championship could go down to the wire.
After a crash in the warm up this morning Remy’s confidence was severely battered, but luckily he was unhurt. His Moriwaki 250 suffered a puncture after jumping one of the exit curbs, throwing him and his bike down the road.
“I felt sick when Remy crashed this morning,” said his shaken Dad Wayne. “Although he wasn’t hurt he was in a bit of shock and I was concerned he’d take that into the race and make a mistake. But, as always he’s made me so proud of his level head and calm confidence. He’s such a smooth and calculated rider. He had his strategy worked out before we arrived at the track today and even after the crash he carried it out to the letter,” Wayne added.
During free practice on Friday Remy slowly worked away at improving his lap times from the previous race at Parcmotor back in April and managed to shave two seconds off his best time by the end of the first day. His teammate Maria Herrera broke the lap record on Friday morning and Remy was still just under two seconds behind her. Having someone to chase was a great motivator and in the morning qualifier on Saturday Remy finished fastest, improving his practice time by almost 1.5 seconds. In the afternoon qualifying session the conditions were patchy with light rain dusting the track. Slower lap times from the field ensured Remy’s pole position ahead of 26 other competitors.
“I’ve been dreaming of standing on top of No. 1 for a long time now. Since I started racing I’ve only ever got second places in big important events and even my friends say I’ve got the curse of coming second! So, finally I broke the curse and it definitely feels as good as I expected it to. I’d really like to thank all my sponsors for their belief in me. I definitely couldn’t be doing this without them,” said Remy.
Finishing second in the Moto3 class today was Maria Herrera and third was Marcos Ramirez Fernandez.