For the final round of the 2021 FIM Superbike World Championship, the GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team got underway in Indonesia at the brand-new Mandalika International Circuit with Garrett Gerloff among the front-runners, going third-fastest on the day.
Gerloff didn’t need long to get up to speed at the new track and immediately clocked the third-fastest time in Free Practice 1. And then, in the afternoon’s FP2 session, with much better track conditions as well as some crucial setup changes, the former MotoAmerica Superbike rider and multiple race winner further improved by more than two seconds, maintaining his third-place position with a lap of 1:34.455.
“Awesome Friday here at Mandalika,” Gerloff said. “The track was a bit dirty this morning, but it soon cleaned up and in the second session it had a lot of grip. It seems like this circuit was made on purpose for our Yamaha R1, and everything is working really well. We made some setup changes too today, taking a little bit of a different direction, and I really like them. I think we have a strong package for tomorrow. I am excited to come back in the morning and see what happens.”
Tomorrow, Gerloff will return to the track to chase the first points of the weekend. The day will begin with FP3 and will continue with the Tissot Superpole, followed by Race 1.
