American star Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) claimed a hard-fought fourth place in Race 2 at the Cremona Circuit on Sunday, which didn’t come without its difficulties for the #31. He was the highest-placed BMW rider in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship race as he got past Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) with just a few laps to go and ended his weekend on a high. However, he revealed an issue on his bike was holding him back.
Gerloff started the Tissot Superpole Race from P11 but secured a third row start for Race 2 by finishing in ninth. He initially stayed in P9 for the first four laps before he started making progress, getting ahead of Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) on Lap 5 and then Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) a lap later. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) followed on Lap 10 before passing Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) to run in P5 at half-distance.
He was trailing Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) at this point but soon started catching the Kawasaki rider. However, he lost his rear brake lever when he got on the back of the #22 although it didn’t stop from him passing the Kawasaki rider. With a couple of laps to go, Gerloff got up the inside of his rival under braking at Turn 11 to move into fourth and secure a fifth-consecutive top five finish.
Reflecting on his fourth place, Gerloff said: “The field’s so deep right now and everyone’s going so fast. It’s damn near impossible to go forward at the beginning of the races unless you have some sort of big advantage. I started ninth after the Superpole Race, but the first laps, I’m just fighting to try and stay in the train with everybody. Once the tyres dropped, I started to feel better. The bike was feeling really, really good. I was able to make some passes and gain more confidence as the laps went on. I caught up to Alex and as soon as I caught him, my rear brake lever came off. That was not making things super easy! It wasn’t easy to ride without it because with the track temps so high, I kept losing the front without the rear brake. It wasn’t the easiest race for me, but happy that I was able to adapt a bit and to finish in fourth. Not as nice as the last race, but really happy to end the weekend like this.”
Gerloff has been quick at Portimao, Magny-Cours and Cremona across different conditions, although it seems the American is quicker with higher temperatures. He finished eighth in Race 1, with track temperatures at 34°C and air temperatures at 24°C. In Race 2, the air temperature was four degrees warmer which led to an increased track temperature of a degree.
Explaining why it seems he’s closer to the front when temperatures increase, Gerloff said: “Andy and Lez, my electronics guy and crew chief, do their homework and bust their butts to make sure I have everything I need for any condition. It seems we get it right more often than not in the warmer temps. I feel pretty comfortable with the bike moving around and so, if that’s the advantage I can take, I will. It’s just when the tyres drop off, I feel like I can keep going. Hoping I can carry that stuff to Aragon where it might be a bit warmer too.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com