Just days after the Gran Premio Michelin of the Argentine Republic, Tech3 KTM Factory Racing already has its eyes set on the fourth round of the 2022 calendar. The team traveled directly from Termas de Río Hondo to Austin in the United States on Monday, and is now preparing for the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, which will be held at the 5m Circuit of the Americas. An Austin route which sparked controversy last year due to its bumps. Hervé Poncharal is impatient to see what the repair work has achieved, a concern shared by his driver Remy Gardner who admits to being handicapped by his wrist... And it will last for a while.
The boss of Tech3 Hervé Poncharal is one of those for whom travel forms youth. On its installation at Texas via Argentina, he says: “ After the exciting MotoGP round at Termas de Río Hondo in Argentina, the Tech3 KTM Factory Racing team is excited to start a new weekend in Austin, Texas. We love coming to the US because the track and facilities are amazing ».
However… " We are also very excited to find out how the track has been resurfaced, so everyone is curious to see how much this will improve grip, and therefore lap times. Last year we had a difficult race here, but after the interesting races Raul and Remy had in Argentina, they should be ready to take the next step, with the aim of scoring points. That would be a great result. As is always the case in back-to-back races, the team will be very busy, but we are happy to be back here before we head to Europe ».
At Remy gardner, we still admit that we are not in full possession of our means... The reigning Moto2 champion had to be operated on after a motocross training incident just two weeks before the start of pre-season testing at Sepang in January . Although Gardner didn't miss any action on the track MotoGP since becoming the only rookie to score in the season opener in Qatar, the wrist remains sore.
Tech3 driver Remy Gardner expects to suffer for another six months
Speaking at last weekend's Argentinian round, Gardner said : " it's still a little painful. It's going to take a while before it's perfect, that's for sure. But it's better than in Qatar. To be honest, I'd expect six months... Until you can really give it a month of rest from heavy use, it doesn't really get better. I also experienced this with my other wrist during the Moto3 days. I did six months with a sore wrist » remembers the Australian.
But the teammate of Raul fernandez will assume: “ anyway, that's how it is, I can't cry too much. It's not horrible, but it's not great. That's not why we're going slow, let's put it that way! ". His Spanish stablemate commented: “I'm really pumped to be here in Austin, Texas. We had a good race in Argentina, the whole team did a good job and I feel better every day on the bike. I think this track is going to be interesting for us, so let's see what we can do this weekend! ».
