Dominique Aegerter put in a strong showing at the season opener of the Superbike World Championship on Phillip Island (Australia). In the Superpole, the WSBK rookie surprised with third place. After a difficult wet race on Saturday, Aegerter had put himself in a promising position in Sunday’s sprint race, but was then brought down by GRT Yamaha teammate Remy Gardner.
“We scored a few points, but it was an emotional weekend,” commented Aegerter. “P3 in qualifying was a very emotional moment. Then I was shot down in P5 in the Superpole race. We really could have fought for a good place.”
“Then we had to start the final race from tenth place on the grid in the middle of the field and finished in seventh place,” says Aegerter, happy about the good result in the second main race. “The top 10 is exactly what I wanted for the first few races,” he notes.
The fall in the sprint race caused quite a stir. “From the team’s point of view, it’s really bad when you’re crashed by a team-mate,” explains Aegerter. “He apologized to me. It’s part of racing. Of course I would have liked to have finished the race in the top five, which was definitely possible. We’re still team-mates and are working together to get closer to the top.”
“I learned a lot of things that weekend. I did my first wet race, then the sprint race and then the full 22-lap race. I had to learn how to use the power properly. We collected a lot of information,” reports the Supersport World Champion, who travels to the second stop in Mandalika (Indonesia) as eleventh in the World Cup.
What teammate Remy Gardner says about the collision
Team colleague Remy Gardner was disappointed after the sprint race and seemed very composed. “It was a difficult weekend,” summed up the Australian. “I had a good start to the Superpole race and was feeling strong. Then unfortunately I made a mistake at Turn 4 and braked too late on the wrong line. I collided with Domi.”
“I’m very sorry. It’s been a while since I crashed another rider,” notes the former MotoGP rider. “It was really a shame that we lost a good starting position for the second race as a result,” Gardner regretted.
The race director pronounced a long lap penalty. Gardner was still able to finish the second main race in the top 10. “We were fast and could show that,” the Yamaha rider is happy about the good performance.
“It’s really positive that we’re able to get so far up the front so early on. Although I haven’t had much time on the bike and I don’t know the tires that well, we can be up there with the front-runners. But I still have a lot to learn, including other things, the format at the race weekends. There is still a lot of work to be done, but we have to remain optimistic,” said Gardner.