If you think the road to your own two-wheeler success as the son of Australian motorcycle racers is a red carpet ride of smooth sailing, trophies at every turn, and an unstoppable rise to the top of the world, then Remy Gardner would like a word.
Because the best part of Gardner becoming Moto2 World Champion this year wasn’t just the isolated performance; so it happened just because it was worth the days of physical pain, mental agony, and times when it all seemed too difficult.
The 23-year-old son of the 1987 500cc world champion, Wayne Gardner, became champion himself in Valencia in November by defeating Red Bull KTM Ajo team-mate Raul Fernandez in an exciting climax of the season. It was an overnight success, seven years in the making.
Remy Gardner Moto2 World Champion winning lap
© Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
To imagine Gardner as champion two years ago would have been optimistic at best, but the seeds for his title win were planted in the final race of 2020 in Portugal when the Australian took his first world title on his 96th start. Gardner joined Finnish talent spotter Aki Ajo’s team for 2021, knowing he could win rather than hoping he could, and took off.
From lap three in – coincidentally – Portugal, when he took the lead in the Moto2 title hunt for the first time, Gardners was getting better and better in 2021. By June, he had won three races in a row and secured a deal to move up to the premier class of elite two-wheeler motorsport, MotoGP, in 2022 – but typical of Gardner’s rollercoaster career was his march to the Moto2 title, Dramatic Spin .
I really changed my chip last year and things started to go a little better. I managed to get my mind under control and it all came together.
Gardner seemed to advance to the crown by 34 points, crashing in Texas as teammate Fernandez took his third win in a row, and when the drivers in – you guessed it – Portugal met again for the penultimate lap, the Spanish rookie had the momentum, Stealing Gardner’s title under his nose, and Gardner nursed broken ribs from a frightening accident in training.
Gardner’s answer? Brave, calculating, and emphatic, with a harder tire in the 23 lap race to battle Fernandez’s soft tire tactic trying to jump away at the front. Gardner waited for his time, waited for Fernandez to cook his Dunlop topping, and then rushed to a win that meant he only had to finish 13th or better in the last race at Valencia.
Remy Gardner celebrates his world title with his team.
© Gold und Gans Fotografie
A conservative ride to 10th place resulted in Gardner becoming Australia’s first world champion since Casey Stoner won the MotoGP title in 2011, creating a maelstrom of emotion.
“The entire lap of honor after the race was more tears and emotions than thoughts,” he recalls.
“I was so stiff on the bike, the broken ribs probably didn’t help. But it was about finishing the race … it was hard to keep your nerve and not to run over.”
It was the approach of a seasoned championship contender, not a driver who had only achieved five podiums in nearly 100 starts by 2021. Tell him which race meant the most in a campaign that resulted in five wins and 12 podiums out of 18 starts and one stands out.
“Portimao … that was probably my best race ever,” he says.
“Keep my head, hold on to my guns with this tough tire and really believe in myself … Portimao made it.
“The last quarter of the season was very tough in terms of printing. Raul did an amazing job as a rookie … he really made me work for it. In the end, consistency was the key … in the end, that’s what got us over the line. “
For Gardner, 2021 melted the struggles of his early career.
“There were so many tough years, from 2015 to 2019 … there were points in my career that I honestly believed there weren’t any more, that was it, the end of the road,” he says.
“The worst part was breaking both of my legs (in a motocross crash in 2018) and I went home thinking, ‘This is it, I have no ride for next year and I have no results, my career” Over. ”But I could either sit there and cry or I could sit up and push like a motherf *** er … and I did.
“I really changed my chip last year and things went a little better. I managed to get my mind under control and everything was fine and I really tried to be positive about everything. Things have turned because secure.”
Remy Gardner leads the way in Jerez.
© Gold und Gans Fotografie
These next laps will be spent with the fire-breathing MotoGP monsters driven by the best in the world. Gardner joins the Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing Team – with 2021 teammate Fernandez at his side – and re-establishes a relationship with the experienced French team principal Herve Poncharal, whose Moto2 team Gardner drove 2017-18.
The next year started in Jerez shortly after the end of the Moto2 season. Gardner and Fernandez got a taste of their 2022 machines in the first of three scheduled off-season test sessions.
“It’s been two tough days physically and trying to learn to bike,” says Gardner.
“It was really an attempt to understand working with used tires, the traction control, the wheelie control … understanding all of the electronics. Performance, ride height systems, brakes – there are so many things. But I had a good time and I had everything more. I don’t drive as well as I can because my ribs are pretty sore, but it was about doing more laps.
“I hope that everything will go well and that I will get used to the bike quickly, but above all I want to have a lot of fun next year – and not forget that I am fulfilling a dream that I have had since childhood, in MotoGP drive .”
If history is a guide, expect Gardner to methodically use his great career opportunity. He’ll do what he always does – lower his head, slap it, block out the outside noise, keep it simple, and go step by step. If 2021 has shown us anything, it is this approach – coupled with the power of persistence and determination to rewrite your story – that can take you to the top of the world.
Remy Gardner celebrates Moto2 racing in British MotoGP
© Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool