It was a weekend of promise for former MotoAmerica Champion and Superbike race winner Garrett Gerloff at the Portimão round of the 2025 FIM Superbike World Championship at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal.
On Sunday, he was able to equal his result from Saturday’s Race One with another 12th-place finish in Race Two aboard his Kawasaki WorldSBK Team Ninja ZX-10RR. The Texan and his crew worked diligently on bike setup throughout the weekend, and they made a breakthrough, which not only helped the Double-G gain some more valuable points in the championship, but the technical changes should bode well for his results in the upcoming rounds of the season.
Gerloff was 16th in the 10-lap Superpole Race, but he found a different way to ride his Kawasaki during that sprint, and it netted him improved pace. Despite a red flag halting Race Two halfway through the proceedings, he was able to capitalize on his newfound pace in the 11-lap restart, and he moved forward from his 17th position on the starting grid to notch his second P12 result of the Portuguese weekend.
Gerloff is now ranked 16th in the championship points standings.
“I am a lot more happy at the end of Sunday than I was yesterday,” Gerloff said. “I just discovered some things that I could do on the bike to help it and, in Race Two, I was able to go a lot faster than I had been before that. This is still not the position we want to be in but, in general, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Before that, it was looking difficult. Thanks to the team and everybody for coming out, and we will try again in two weeks in Assen.”
Following the Portimão round, the entire WorldSBK circus packs up its bikes and equipment and heads north, to take part in the always eagerly-anticipated Assen round. The Netherlands round will be held on April 11 through 13.
