Garrett Gerloff and his Kawasaki WorldSBK Team found some overnight set-up improvements to take into Race One at Magny Cours, but Garrett was to fall from a strong seventh place and no-score.
After finding some issues under braking on day one, Gerloff’s Saturday bike set-up was strong enough for the American rider to take the ninth best time in FP3 in the morning. Having already secured a Superpole ‘win’ at Magny Cours, when riding for another manufacturer, he was looking forward to a strong performance in Superpole.
Gerloff subsequently had the misfortune to crash early in the 15-minute qualifying session at the 4.411km-long Magny Cours circuit, and had to start the 21-lap opening race from the eighth and last row of the grid.
He made up ground strongly through his own efforts, and he also benefitted from five top riders falling in two separate incidents at the same corner on lap two. Eleventh on Lap one, Garrett was up to tenth by lap four and seventh until lap 18.
He would fall after running a little wide but was able to get his machine going again for a short time, until he was forced to retire.
Garrett will have more chances to score points at Magny Cours, as Sunday will host the ten-lap Superpole ‘Sprint’ Race, plus a full-distance Race Two which will round out the on-track action at the French WorldSBK weekend.
Garrett Gerloff
“I am super-annoyed at myself and I am really sorry for the team. I crashed in Superpole Qualifying and didn’t set a time, so I had to start from last position on the grid. I actually had a decent race going, where I think I was in the top six at one time. Then, I went wide, touched the paint, and crashed again. I am annoyed, I want to say sorry to the team and we will try again tomorrow.”
