Garrett Gerloff had to start both WorldSBK races on Sunday, 7 September at Magny Cours from the very last row of the grid. Despite this issue, Gerloff was able to make progress in each competitive race, and ultimately score points for his 11th place finish in Race Two.
Having fallen early in the Superpole Qualifying session at the 4.411km-long Magny Cours circuit on Saturday, Garrett had to start Race One, and today’s ten-lap Superpole race, from the very back of the grid.
In the ten-lap Superpole Race, he made great forward progress, but with only ten laps to work with – not the 21 laps of the full WorldSBK races – he ended up in 14th place.
The aim had been to get inside the top nine places in the Superpole ‘sprint’ race, as that would have vastly improved his starting position for the final full distance Race Two. As this was not possible, Garrett had to return to his original starting position at the very back of the grid and fight his way forward again.
He took his Ninja ZX-10RR to 11th place at the flag, having overtaken half the field in the 21-lap contest. For his efforts he was rewarded with his first championship points of the weekend.
In the overall rankings, after nine of 12 rounds, Garrett is now ranked 16th, with 72 points in all.
The next round of the WorldSBK Championship will take place in Spain, at the Motorland Aragon circuit between 26-28 September.
Garrett Gerloff
“I have to say sorry to the team again because this was definitely not the weekend I was hoping for. Today I was hoping to make some more progress in the Superpole Race, to try and be in the top nine for Race Two – but it was so tough. Andrea Locatelli and I started from the last row of the grid and we were basically together for the full race, and Race Two, making the same progress. The most I could do was 14th in the Superpole Race and 11th in Race Two. I am not super-happy but we can’t change it now. We will try again in Motorland Aragon and I just want to end the year with some better results.”
