After a solid sixth place (1’34.705) in the red-flagged Free Practice 3, Gerloff fell on his first lap during the Tissot Superpole and could not rejoin the session. As a consequence, he will be starting last in tomorrow morning’s Superpole Race and will need to make yet another comeback.
The Texan’s day eventually ended on a positive note, as he was able to make his way through the field after starting Race 1 from the pit lane. He took the chequered flag in 12th place and set his personal best lap time – a 1’35.623 - on the final lap, showing that his race pace is consistent even with high temperatures.
Kohta Nozane, instead, enjoyed a much smoother day on track and continued making steady progress. He was 14th in the morning’s free practice session (1’35.323) and later qualified in the same position thanks to an improved 1’34.677.
The 25-year-old then battled with HRC Honda’s Leon Haslam for much of the afternoon’s race and eventually got the best of the British rider, crossing the finish line in 13th. Tomorrow, Nozane hopes to improve further, but he will have to do so despite being demoted six positions on the starting grid of the Superpole Race for a red flag infringement during FP3.
After the second day of on-track action at Misano, Gerloff lies seventh in the championship standings with 46 points, whereas his teammate is 16th with 14. On Sunday, the action will resume at 09:00 with the Warm-Up, while the Superpole Race follows at 11:00 and Race 2 at 14:00, local time (CEST).
For full Race 1 results, click here.
