Despite coming under attack as he began to struggle with his rear tyre, Gardner managed to claim his second P6 of the weekend in what turned out to be his best WorldSBK round of the season.♑ 

Third in 💜qualifying, Saturday’s flag-to-flag Race 1 saw Gardner slide down the order after using the intermediate tyre for the first time in his career♌.

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Calling it a ‘daunting’ experience, Gardner then 🐭recovered by taking sixth in the Superpole Race. 

"It’s been a very positive weekend," Gardner told WorldSBK.com. "We𝕴 had a great qualifying and got lucky to be on the🐻 front row. 

"It was an unlucky Race 1 with💛 t✱he tyre choice and that’s down to experience with those tyres. I had never run the intermediates in the wet before so it was a bit daunting for me. 

"I had a good sprint as well and managed to keep the front two rows. Then I was having quite a good race until arཧound lap 14/15 - the rear tyre really started to drop and I saw 𒁃the guys coming at me fast. 

"They were closing the gap and I knew there nothing I could do. I was already on the limit. We w🐻ere lucky to finish ꦕthe race. 

"I♌ had a few holes in the tyre just like Toprak. We were lucky no꧟t to get a flat tyre."

Thanks to his best qualifying result since joining♑ WorldSBK, and 𝐆his performance in Sunday’s double-header, Gardner spent much of the weekend competing with the top riders in the class, which has not always been the case.

Blistering, de-lamination and punctures were the cause of Razgatlioglu’s tyre failure, and Gardner admitted he was lucky not to suffer🅠 the same fate. 

The Australian did feel as though he perhaps pushed tౠoo hard early on, causing him to lose grip from lap 15 onwards. 

"I finally got to see the head of the race which was cool," added Gardner. "Maybe it made me push too hard in those [first] 15 laps and use too much t🔥yre. 

"The other guys were capable of saving the rear tyre better. We’re trying to make up a deficit with ꦇstraight line speed.&n🦹bsp;

"I think there’s a bit more we can get out of our package. Toprak is doing it and he was unlucky with his reﷺar tyre situation. I think it was a confidence boost this weekend."