Three MotoAmerica riders, past and present, were in action in World Championships over the past weekend at Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto. Lloyd Racing’s Sonya Lloyd and Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team’s Mallory Dobbs both competed in the final round of the 2024 FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship (WorldWCR), while Garrett Gerloff raced in the final round of the 2024 FIM Superbike World Championdship. For Gerloff, it was also his final race weekend with the Bonovo Action BMW team before he joins Kawasaki Puccetti Racing in the 2025 WorldSBK Championship. Gerloff will test with his new team on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
Lloyd was a wildcard entry at Jerez and had her first foray in a World Championship round. She qualified 21st on Friday aboard her Yamaha YZF-R7, but unfortunately, she had a tipover in Saturday’s Race 1, which ended her day. Undeterred, Lloyd came back on Sunday and held strong to her starting position on the grid where she crossed the finish line 21st in what was a valuable learning experience for her.
“We had a tough first race,” commented Lloyd. “I kind of struggled to get up to speed and figure out, just really, how to ride these bikes like the girls up front. In Race 1, I ended up locking up the rear in a corner, and the way it twisted me, I kind of grabbed the brakes a little too hard, and it flung me over the front. But, we looked at the data, and I came into Race 2 with a better feeling, and I actually dropped 2.5 seconds in Race 2 and I was only 3.2 seconds off the fastest lap time of the race leader. I had a lot of fun on the world circuit. I was definitely hoping to finish a bit better, but I’m happy with the lap time I got at the end, and that was kind of our goal this weekend.
“I don’t have any plans set in stone yet for 2025. I would love to do the entire WorldWCR season next year, and I told them that I would love to come back. So, we will see how that goes once they make their decisions. If not, then (the BellissiMoto) Twins Cup (Championship) is what we’re going to try to do again next year.”
Dobbs competed in all six rounds of the 2024 WorldWCR and showed improvement throughout the season. At Jerez, she qualified 8th, then she finished 9th in Saturday’s Race 1 and equaled that result with a 9th-place finish in Sunday’s Race 2. Dobbs just barely missed out on a top-10 result in the season championship, and the entire experience has left her extremely hopeful that she will be selected to return to the WorldWCR in 2025.
“We chipped away at it, and we got two top-10 finishes,” Dobbs said. “In the final race, I was in a three-way battle for position right to the checkered flag. I went faster today than yesterday, so I’m really happy that I finished strong. Also, with how the season went early on, to finish 11th in the championship in my first year here makes me pretty happy.
“It’s crazy that the season is over, but I definitely learned a lot. I improved my riding and learned a lot about some skills that I need to work on. So, I know what I need to work on during the off-season. I plan on re-applying for (WorldWCR) next year, so after taking a couple of weeks off, I’m going to get right back to it, to get ready for next year.”
Gerloff’s results in the WorldSBK Championship got better and better as the 2024 season went on, and even after his team announced that it would not continue after 2024, the Texan showed that he was still fully committed to doing his absolute best all the way to the final checkered flag this past weekend.
At Jerez, Gerloff led Saturday’s Free Practice 3 session, qualified 10th in Superpole, finished 10th in Race 1, was 8th in the Superpole Race, and wrapped things up with a 7th-place finish in his final race aboard his Bonovo Action BMW M 1000 RR. All told, Gerloff finished in the top-10 in the final standings for the season with a 9th-place result.
Our man Tim Robinson was on the scene in Jerez this past weekend, and we thank him for the rider quotes he provided from Lloyd and Dobbs. Robinson will also be on hand for the WorldSBK test sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, and he will help bring us Gerloff’s first impressions on his Kawasaki Puccetti ZX-10R.
