Gerloff recovers to fifth place in ‘mentally challenging weekend’

Garrett Gerloff recovered from a disastrous Saturday in Misano to take back-to-back top ten WorldSBK finishes during Sunday’s double-header. 

Gerloff was on the back-foot before the weekend even began as he was given a pit lane start for race one, due to the crash involving him and Michael Rinaldi in Estoril. 

However, with a good qualifying the American should have been able to salvage a decent grid slot for Sunday’s Superpole race, but instead Gerloff was unable to set a lap time, meaning a back of the grid start for that race too. 

Even so, Gerloff managed to claim eighth after starting 22nd during the Superpole race, before taking fifth in the final race as he nearly caught Scott Redding for fourth. 

"It was a very challenging weekend: it started okay in practice, but then I could not even set a time in Superpole; plus, I had to start from pit lane in race 1, before starting from the back again in the Superpole race," said Gerloff. 

"It was definitely a mentally challenging weekend, but I am super happy to end it like this, it gives me a lot of confidence. Massive thanks to the whole team for their support, for their belief in me and for their positivity. 

"Race 2 was the best I have felt with the bike all weekend and, had we had the same setup in qualifying and for the first race, I think we could have fought at least for the podium." 

Next up for Gerloff is a first visit to Donington Park as the British event was cancelled in 2020. The GRT Yamaha rider has never competed there before, but feels confident due to its similarities with the US based layous he’s experienced. 

Gerloff added: "I feel like I know Donington already like the back of my hand, I just have to figure out all the little details of the track such as the bumps. 

"It looks amazing and much like an American-style track with a lot of elevation changes. Hopefully it’s a track that I will be fast on and that is easy to learn. I am very excited to go there."