Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. is pleased to announce that Remy Gardner will be a wild-card entry in the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, Round 16 of the 2024 FIM MotoGP™ World Championship. He will be riding the Yamaha Factory Racing Team YZR-M1 (with Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ livery) at the Mobility Resort Motegi circuit in the race weekend of October 4 - 6.
Gardner already rode the 2024 Yamaha YZR-M1 in the German GP and the British GP, making him the ideal choice for the Yamaha Factory Racing Team for their home GP. The former Moto2™ World Champion's participation in the 2024 Japanese GP will be his first time riding at the Motegi track on a premier-class bike since 2022.
Remy Gardner: "I am really excited to race in Japan, it's a country I always enjoyed visiting in Grand Prix racing, but to go to Japan and race for a Japanese manufacturer in MotoGP in front of the Japanese fans will be something special. It is nice that, after Sachsenring and Silverstone, Yamaha have asked me to come back.
"They clearly feel that I bring something to the development programme, so hopefully we can have a productive weekend in Motegi too. It will be a busy period for me with five races in five weeks, but I ride bikes almost every weekend anyway, so it's nothing new for me!"
Kazutoshi Seki (Yamaha Factory Racing Test Team Leader): "Bike development is at the heart of Yamaha's every move this year. The engineers are working very hard, and I am fully convinced that this wild-card entry will accelerate Yamaha's endeavours to develop prototype parts and increase bike performance. Remy Gardner has already successfully tested protype items for the M1 on two occasions earlier this year, so his prior experience makes him a logical choice in Cal Crutchlow's absence due to injury."