GRT Yamaha’s Gerloff Surges to Maiden WorldSBK Podium in Barcelona

21-09-2020

GRT Yamaha’s Gerloff Surges to Maiden WorldSBK Podium in Barcelona

The FIM Superbike World Championship’s first-ever visit to Barcelona ended with a flawless performance from GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team’s Garrett Gerloff, who scored a maiden podium position in Race 2. Federico Caricasulo picked up a 12th place finish in Race 2, after a penalty for an incident in the Superpole Race forced him to start from the back.

After the morning Warm Up, in which the two GRT Yamaha 2020 rookies set the 10th and 12th fastest laps with Gerloff ahead of Caricasulo, the American produced a stellar ride from 15th to fifth in the Superpole Race. Contact with Leon Haslam ended Caricasulo’s race prematurely, with the Italian held responsible for the accident by the stewards and therefore forced to start last in the afternoon race.

In Race 2, Gerloff battled with Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team’s Michael van der Mark throughout for the podium places, crossing the line just behind in third, while his teammate fought his way up to 12th, taking more points.

Meanwhile, Ten Kate Yamaha WorldSBK Supported Team’s Loris Baz enjoyed a positive turn of form on Sunday. Having endured a difficult Race 1, the French rider bounced back to take third from the fourth row of the Superpole Race grid, and was unfortunately forced wide at Turn 1 in Race 2 – still finishing 10th.

Wildcard rider Jonas Folger continued to improve in both the Superpole Race and Race 2. The German had a sensor issue in qualifying, which meant he had to start from the back in the SPRC, but climbed up to 10th at the finish. In Race 2, he was equally as impressive on his way to 11th, scoring more WorldSBK points on debut.

For full SPRC results, click here.
For full Race 2 results, click here.

Garrett Gerloff - SPRC: P5 / R2: P3

GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team

What a weekend! I can’t explain the emotion I feel, it has been a crazy journey and I am so grateful for the opportunity this team has given me. I feel like we have always had all the pieces, but they just were not fitting together. To have it almost all come together was amazing. It was a team effort, the guys have always been positive, through the good moments and the bad ones, and this was very important to keep me confident. The Superpole Race played a big role in the podium, and coming through from 15th to fifth gave me a much better opportunity to have a decent Race 2 without having to fight with everybody at the back of the grid. That was the key to today’s success. I am kicking myself a little bit because I thought I had second place in the bag, and then I made a mistake at Turn 10 and lost it. A world championship podium is something I have always dreamed of, and I can’t believe it. It is so rewarding to make so many sacrifices for my career, and then to have some of them finally pay off. It’s just unreal, there are so many people that have helped me throughout the years and I want to thank them. Thank you to my family and my friends back in Texas, I wish I could see them right now to celebrate. I hope to be even stronger in Magny-Cours.

Federico Caricasulo – SPRC: DNF / R2: P12

GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team

It was a very difficult weekend because we kept having different weather conditions, and we couldn’t find a setup that preserved our tyres. We were never able to work on improving our pace, as we had to concentrate on solving our tyre issues. Unfortunately, these problems remained even during Race 2, and our pace was slower as well. Starting from the last spot on the grid did not help us either. We will try to improve for the next one.