It was a tough start to the weekend in Portugal for former MotoAmerica Champion and Superbike rider Garrett Gerloff, but the Kawasaki WorldSBK Team rider made progress in Saturday’s 20-lap Race 1 at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão, racing his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR to a 12th-place finish to secure valuable championship points.
On Friday, Gerloff carded a pair of 19th-place results in the first two Free Practice sessions. Then, in Saturday morning’s Free Practice 3, he improved to 16th-fastest and maintained that same position in Superpole.
From the start of Saturday’s race, the Texan finished lap one in 18th position, and he advanced as high as 14th after a third of the race had been completed. He crossed the finish line in 12th-place, which was his best result to that point in the weekend, and it garnered him four championship points in the process.
“I had quite a lonely race today,” Gerloff said. “We are trying our best but it is just difficult right now to find more speed. We are all trying to get more but we just need more laps and some time. But, we will get there eventually.”
The final two races of the Portimão event will commence on Sunday with the 10-lap Superpole Race followed by Race 2, which is scheduled for 20 laps.
