Names don’t come much bigger in Australian motorcycle road racing than Gardner, and Remy Gardner has shown the optimism that greeted his arrival on the world stage is certainly justified. The eldest son of 1987 500cc world champion Wayne, 17-year-old Remy has taken his fledgling world championship steps in the entry-level Moto3 category this year, with the MotoGP series set to hit Australian shores at Phillip Island this month (October 16-18).

Bike PHOTO COURTESY OF CIP TEAM.

WHAT'S HIS STORY?

Sydney-born Remy Gardner started riding at four, but with laws in NSW forbidding riders under the age of 13 from competing in road racing, he first raced in Spain as a 12-year-old in October 2010.

The Gardners commuted back and forth from Australia to Spain for Remy to compete in 2011, before moving full-time in 2013. Remy rode in the Spanish CEV series, the stepping stone to the world championship for a host of local and non- Spanish prospects including Aussie Jack Miller.

His efforts led to a world championship debut at Misano, Italy in September 2014, deputising for injured Kalex KTM rider Luca Grunwald, but it was a debut that almost didn’t happen after a serious crash in the CEV series the week before. Remy fell and lay broadside across the track, where he was run over and rag-dolled by another rider. It was the type of accident that racers fear more than most, and moved tough-as-nails Dad Wayne to ask his son to consider quitting. Perhaps emboldened by escaping with just bruises and a sprained ankle, and perhaps showing that Wayne’s trademark grit is hereditary, Remy wanted to continue racing that same weekend, but held back to make his Moto3 debut seven days later. He would eventually earn a full-time seat for 2015 with Mahindra.

The fledgling Indian manufacturer has struggled to keep the pace with the Moto3-leading Honda and KTM machines this season, Gardner and his underpowered Mahindra stablemates little more than sitting ducks on the straights. It’s been a period of adjustment for Remy, but one he knows he needs to go through: "Dad stayed away for a couple of races, which I probably needed him to do. But being around the sport he was a world champion in, it’s been an eye-opener to realise how much he put his nuts on the line.”

WHO'S HE LIKE?

Australia has a rich lineage of dirt-track prodigies who have become road-racing winners on an international stage; consider such names as five-time 500cc world champion Mick Doohan, dual MotoGP champion Casey Stoner, multiple World Superbike champions Troy Corser and Troy Bayliss, and Wayne Gardner himself.

Remy has a long way to go to emulate that quintet, but off-road experience from an early age encourages a style that lends itself to riding bigger road bikes, as dirt champion turned tarmac racer Miller has proven with his move to MotoGP.

There’s more than one way to achieve the optimum lap time – compare the smooth metronomic approach used by MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo to the all-action, gravity-defying style employed by reigning champion Marc Marquez – and Gardner will never be a rider who takes precise lines, the bike leaned over perfectly every corner as if on rails. Gardner likes the back of the bike loose and the rear tyre scrabbling for traction in the corners, and has a great feel on the brakes. “People have been telling me that Remy’s style is a carbon-copy of his Dad’s,” Wayne laughs.

The small 250cc Moto3 Mahindra looks almost comically unsuited to Remy’s style and size, particularly as the 174cm/63kg teenager is still growing. A move to the intermediate-class Moto2 series shapes as the logical next step; in Moto2, the minimum weight for the 600cc Honda-powered bike and its rider is 215kg, nearly 70kg heavier than Moto3. “I feel like my riding style is more suited to a Moto2 bike,” Remy says. “Because I’m still growing, the Moto3 bike seems a bit small. I shot up in height a lot in 2014, so I hope I don’t get too much bigger. It’s been a bit difficult to stay in the ideal position when you’re tucked in. The Moto2 bikes would be better for my size and my style, being able to get the bike sideways.”

The Gardner clan and Miller have become closer this year, Miller living in Tarragona just outside of Barcelona, and the Gardners based in nearby Sitges. And the newest Australian on the MotoGP grid has been keeping an eye on his compatriot.

“Jack’s been really good to me, always giving me little tips and encouragement,” Remy says.

“I’m about 30-40 minutes away from his place, so we sometimes hang out and do supermotard training. He’s always got good advice, and he’s definitely someone I can learn from.”

WHAT DO THEY SAY?

“This is only Remy’s fourth year of road racing, so to be riding within a second of the best in the world is pretty rapid progress.”

– Wayne Gardner, 1987 500cc world champion and Remy’s dad

“He has been stuck in not the best team; I feel for him, as I had a similar problem when I came into the world championship. But Remy’s definitely a really talented rider

and has a lot of potential.”

– Jack Miller, Australian MotoGP rider

“It’s been an impressive start for Remy in a team that hasn’t had that much success before. A move to a bigger bike in Moto2 can only help him if he keeps growing.”

– Chris Vermeulen, Grand Prix winner and Fox Sports analyst

Headshot PHOTO COURTESY OF CIP TEAM.