Gardner and Manzi Complete Final Phillip Island Test Ahead of Season Opener
The GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team wrapped up its final pre-season test on 16–17 February at Phillip Island, Australia. Remy Gardner and Stefano Manzi completed valuable mileage ahead of the 2026 WorldSBK season opener. The opener is set to take place at the same venue on 20–22 February.
Local hero Gardner returned to action as he continued preparations for the upcoming campaign.
On Day 1, the Australian focused primarily on regaining confidence aboard the Yamaha R1. He also worked through his test programme rather than chasing outright lap times. As a result, he completed 61 laps during the session. He set a personal best of 1’31.350 to finish 21st on the combined timesheets.
On Day 2, Gardner maintained his testing approach. He concentrated on evaluating components and refining bike settings with an eye on the race weekend ahead. After completing a solid number of laps, he ended the day with good progress. Moreover, he improved his lap time to clock a 1’30.269 to place 17th overall at the end of the two days.
On the other side of the garage, rookie Manzi enjoyed an eventful but productive final test in Australia.
He experienced the Yamaha R1 at Phillip Island for the first time, and the reigning WorldSSP Champion adapted quickly on Day 1. Despite an early crash, the Italian rider completed 70 laps across the session. He also recorded a personal best of 1’30.623 to place 13th at the end of the day.
Manzi continued to build momentum on Day 2. He immediately improved his lap time in the morning to go over half a second quicker than his Day 1 best. Unfortunately, a crash at Turn 2 cut his morning short after just 15 laps. This forced him to miss the remainder of the session. He still managed to set the 14th fastest time with a 1’30.110.
Declared fit to continue, Manzi returned for the afternoon session. Although feeling the effects of the earlier incident, he completed further useful laps with a focus on race preparation. He ended the test with additional valuable mileage, with 49 laps in total. This rounded out a positive final pre-season outing ahead of his WorldSBK debut, finishing 15th on combined standings.
It’s definitely been a thrilling two days of testing. I’m happy to be back on the bike and finally get some dry track time, although it was also demanding with the two crashes. Thankfully, I was able to get back on the bike both times, and I’d like to thank the whole team for the great work they did. We managed to complete some useful laps ahead of the race and made good progress. We know it’s a long road and there’s still room to improve, but we’re confident we can continue to move forward
— Stefano Manzi, P15 (1’30.110)
It hasn’t been the easiest couple of days, but I knew it would be tricky here. I’m still struggling a bit physically, but it should improve during the week, so I’m staying confident. I’m happy we were able to finalise some work on the setup and try a few things ahead of the race weekend. We now have two days to recover and then we’ll be back, so let’s stay positive.