Former MotoAmerica Superbike rider and current GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team rider Garrett Gerloff scored a fifth-place finish on Saturday in MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship Race 1 at Magny-Cours. It was the Texan’s best result of the season so far.
Gerloff started the day by going eighth fastest (1:37.454) in Free Practice 3, and then, in Superpole, his fastest lap was 1:36.464, which ranked him fifth in the session.
At the start of Race 1, Gerloff got off the line well but lost positions in a hectic opening lap. Undeterred, the 27-year-old still managed to find pace and put himself into podium contention, ultimately crossing the line in fifth.
“It’s nice to be top five in Superpole and in Race 1. We’re going in the right direction. Everything seems like it’s working well, and I’m glad we were able to stay on two wheels. We had a couple of big moments, but that’s racing. We started to catch (Axel) Bassani with eight laps to go, but unfortunately we had difficulty with the tires. It was still a good battle with (Alex) Lowes. We’ll try to push for more tomorrow.”
Gerloff and his GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team will be back at Magny-Cours tomorrow for the Superpole Race at 11 a.m. (local time) followed by Race 2 at 2 p.m.
