Circuit San Juan Villicum in Argentina has been a fierce battleground for GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team rider Garrett Gerloff so far this weekend. The former MotoAmerica Superbike race winner fought hard in Race 1 and ultimately finished 13th after recovering from a hectic opening lap.
In the Tissot Superpole, after taking a provisional seventh place on the grid, Gerloff went for even more on his final lap, but unfortunately couldn’t improve and found himself 12th with a fastest lap of 1:37.399.
Then, on the opening lap of Race 1, the Texan dropped from 12th to 17th where he got into a race-long skirmish with a pack of determined riders. With six laps to go, the Double-G overtook GoEleven Ducati’s Philipp Oettl for 15th, and then, three laps later, he caught and passed Bonovo Action BMW’s Eugene Laverty (ironically, the rider he’s replacing on the Bonovo Action BMW team next year). Gerloff showed great pace in the closing stages and even set a personal best on the very last lap to finish 13th.
“That’s not the Race 1 we wanted, but we have to deal with it,” Gerloff said. “Starting from behind, of course, didn’t help as I’m struggling to find places to pass people. Whenever I have free space, I’m capable of fast laps, but things change once I’m following other guys. It’s a bit frustrating as we could be placed higher. But we don’t give up, and we will try to find something good for the remaining races.”
Eager to progress even more, Gerloff and his dedicated GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team will be back in action tomorrow with the Superpole Race at Noon and Race 2 at 3 p.m. Both times local.
