Remy Gardner has been sacked from MotoGP by his Tech3 KTM team, leaving him without a 2023 seat with just seven races remaining.
For most of this season Gardner had been thought likely to be retained by the satellite squad, having won last year’s Moto2 title in KTM colours and shown decent improvement through the year.
Miguel Oliveira’s decision to leave the KTM fold after being dropped for Jack Miller as well as Raúl Fernandez’s switch to RNF also appeared to firm his odds of being held by the team, but a sudden change of heart by his team has left him out in the cold at the last minute.
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His most likely replacement is rising star Augusto Fernández, who’s currently just one point behind Moto2 series leader Ai Ogura, having won three of the last four races.
Speaking at this weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix, Gardner revealed that was told on 20 August, almost two weeks ago, that the team wouldn’t be renewing terms for next season.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be honest,” he said, according to The Race. “I’ve always given 100 per cent, and unfortunately I don’t think it was good enough for their standard.
“My intention was to stay here and give my best. And honestly, yeah, they’ve broken my heart.”
Gardner said he was given scant reason for his dismissal.
“They said I was not professional enough,” he said. “That was it.”
He also accused the team of having “no appreciation for the world championship I brought them”.
Gardner has endured a tricky first campaign in MotoGP. After a runaway title battle with teammate Fernandez in Moto2, the Australian has scored just nine points this year and sits 23rd in the standings.
Factory riders Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira have amassed 107 and 85 points respectively, including a pair of podiums.
However, while there’s little doubt Gardner has found the transition up the class ladder difficult, he’s comfortably covered Fernandez this year, who’s the only full-time rider ranked beneath him, and more recently he’s closed in on the factory riders during time attack, with the bike’s inconsistency now his biggest issue.
“I think it hasn’t been a disaster, if I’m honest with you,” Gardner said. “If you have a look at the times and everything and how close I am to the factory guys usually — it’s still my first year; I don’t know, what is it, Miguel’s fourth year in MotoGP?
“I honestly think it was not bad and honestly it was positive vibes from them.
“The feeling was and the impression was, ‘Okay, yeah, we’ll continue’. And Silverstone was like, ‘We should continue, and in Austria we’ll get it done’.
“I don’t know. I’m just as confused as you guys.”
But in recent weeks the picture has changed rapidly. KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer admitted that it was pitching Tech3 to Oliveira a second time following the announcement the team would be rebranded to Gas Gas for 2023, making clear that it was moving on from Gardner as a live prospect.
Oliveira has since agreed to sign with RNF and take its supply of end-2022 spec Aprilia bikes, but the team appears set to dip into its deep talent pool to replace Gardner anyway.
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The mood notably changed in the days after the British Grand Prix, when KTM board member Hubert Trunkenpolz told Speedweek he regretted promoting two rookies straight into the premier class this year.
Gardner’s problem is now that the rider market is complete. With Joan Mir’s confirmation at Honda and Oliveira and Fernandez’s switch to RNF now confirmed, only Gardner’s seat remains in play on the grid.
It means continuing in MotoGP is off the cars for 2023, forcing the 23-year-old Australian to contemplate a sideways or downwards move.
“They told me extremely late,” he lamented. They’ve really screwed me over here, to be honest, for finding us a seat for next year. It’s left me in a bit of a crappy position.
“I [do] want to keep racing for sure. I do have a few offers to stay in this paddock, obviously not in MotoGP. Not sure yet.
“It’s definitely hard to take after fighting so many years, with the injuries and fighting and with maybe not the best machinery, and I finally managed to actually kick a goal and win a championship.
“To just have only one year in MotoGP — yeah, it breaks my heart.
“I just feel a little bit deceived by the world of motorcycles at the moment.”
