Garrett Gerloff had his best practice session of the year on the opening day at Autodrom Most and as a result set the fastest lap of all.
An astounding performance from man and machine saw Gerloff and his Ninja ZX-10RR lead the entire WorldSBK field after two Free Practice sessions at the 4.212km-long Autodrom Most on Friday 15 May.
At a circuit with every possible kind of corner, and no less than 21 corners in all, Gerloff jumped up the rankings after FP2 to go quickest of all, setting a 1’30.719 lap time. This pace saw him 0.066 seconds ahead of championship leader Nicolo Bulega, in an FP2 session that saw every single rider improve on their morning FP1 times.
Rain drops were in evidence before the start of the second Friday WorldSBK timed session, but the track was fully dry for Gerloff and his distinctive green Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR to finally outpace all-comers on day one.
After this confidence-boosting performance, the Kawasaki WorldSBK Team and their American rider will now face a short FP3 session on Saturday morning, before Superpole Qualifying and then a 22-lap Race One takes place at what is the sixth round of the season. The short Tissot Superpole Race and a full distance 22-lap Race Two will complete the Czech round, on Sunday 17 May.
Garrett Gerloff
“I felt like it was a good lap, and when I went across the finish line and I saw a 1’30 lap time, I was like ‘I hope it’s a top five time’ – because I couldn’t remember what a good lap was here. Then, the next lap around, I saw on my board ‘P1!’ When I went into the pits I asked if I was using a race tyre, not a softer SC0 tyre, and they told me it was a race tyre. I had a small fall this morning, in FP1, and I didn’t feel super comfortable at that stage, but big thanks to my guys because they made some good changes to the set-up and I felt really comfortable in FP2. Also, the track was better for me as, in general, I had more confidence and more grip with the track. That combination of things helped a lot.”
