Round five of the CMV went nowhere today for Luca Gardner, after he sustained injuries to his wrist and elbow during qualifying for round five of the CMV at Circuito Calafat.
Testing his Pre GP Moto 3 Moriwaki on Friday and Saturday, Luca was able to set his personal best time at the Circuit and was feeling confident he could perform well in qualifying, and the two races today. From the outset this morning, he had difficulty equalling his consistent pace of the previous day. It was hoped a change of tyres half-way through the session would provide an opportunity for Luca to set a solid time, however the softer compound rubber didn’t work well for him, and after persevering a little too long, he high-sided on the second last corner, finishing his day of racing.
After medical examination at the Circuit Luca was transported to Tarragona Hospital for X-rays, revealing nothing was broken. “Luckily he’s only sustained bruising and swelling to his wrist and inner elbow, but it was enough to ensure he wouldn’t return to the circuit to race today, even though he’d qualified fourth at the end of the session,” said his relieved Father Wayne Gardner.
Luca was extremely disappointed, not only for himself, but also for his hard working team, Briefing Competició. “I really wanted to do well this weekend to try and catch up in the points after missing one race because of my fractured foot, and crashing out of the last race. But Dad always reminds me that these things happen in racing and its getting experience. I worked really hard with the team in the last two testing days, so I wanted to do good for them too. Anyway I’ll just have to wait now to race at Motorland at the end of the month and at least I don’t have anything broken,” said Luca.
I looks likely Luca will maintain his third position in the Championship at this stage, and his chance of moving up to second place will depend on whether there are one or two races at Motorland in the last round on 24 November, which is yet to be confirmed.
Congratulations to the riders who did get on the podium today, Vicente Selfa Perez overall in first, followed by Gerard Male Riu, and Marc Bayen Luna.
