It was a weekend of more progress for American rider Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW), as the #31 showed plenty of potential right across the Prosecco DOC UK Round. With the halfway mark of the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship reached this past weekend at Donington Park, Gerloff was up inside the top five at points and had a double top ten finish on Sunday, as he and the Bonovo Action BMW squad edge closer to the front with four top ten results in the last six races.
Donington Park is a happy hunting ground for Gerloff, with a podium in his first season visiting the track coming in Race 2, 2021, albeit on Yamaha machinery – it remains his best WorldSBK finish with P2. However, after switching to BMW for this season and taking P10 in his first race for the brand, it would be his only top ten in the opening nine races. However, in Barcelona, Gerloff came on strong with a hat-trick of top ten finishes and a best of seventh in the Superpole Race. In Race 2 at Donington, he was straight into the top five on the opening lap of the restarted Race 2, and held the position for three laps, before slipping to sixth until Lap 11, when he dropped one place back to P7. However, a mistake on Lap 13 dropped him to P9, but he held it until the end.
Speaking about the weekend, Gerloff said: “I felt it’s been going better and better. It’s nice to feel like we’ve been making progress. There hasn’t been a ton of progress in terms of the position that we’re finishing in, that’s been a bit stagnant but in terms of how far away we are from the group in front of me or from the win, it’s been shrinking and shrinking. The competition is so tight this year… in the past at Donington Park, with ten seconds off the win, I could have been fourth. But now, there are more guys fighting for that position! So, it’s easier to go backwards and that’s what I did.
“I got a great start and was inside the top five for the first time and I was pumped up, but I just had a couple of laps where I made a mistakes and I ended up going backwards and I was so frustrated with myself! I dropped back a little bit but at the end, I was right behind Locatelli and that group, so it’s nice to feel like we’re making progress. I know we’re going the right way.”
Gerloff has been one of the most consistent BMW riders in the last three rounds; the three top ten finishes in Barcelona saw him as top BMW each time and the only one inside the top ten. At Misano, he was the only one to score points in all three races, with the Superpole Race and Race 2 once again seeing him progress to the top ten with a best of eighth in the latter. In comparison to his teammate, Loris Baz, he’s also outperforming him – Baz has just four points-scoring finishes and no top ten finish thus far, although the Frenchman was injured at Mandalika and by no means fully fit at Assen.
HAPPY GERLOFF: “It’s the first time I’ve consistently had fun racing in a while!”
Elaborating about one area to improve, the American stated: “I’ve been trying to work a lot on putting myself in the right position. I’ve been struggling with starts this year, so from the red light to the first 60mp/h. I haven’t been able to get a good start and get off the line. That’s been costing me into Turn 1 as by the time I get there, I’ve lost two or three positions or they’re next to me and it’s really hard to defend that. It’s not my reaction time, just the ability to let the clutch out in the right way and be driving forward. At Donington, I started to try and start in a different way; before, I was doing it like I had in the past. In Race 2, I finally got it right! It made a huge difference and whereas usually two people who start behind me come up next to me, I was moving past people who were a row ahead of me. It’s a different dynamic into Turn 1 then. It’s a things to keep improving on.”
Half of the 2023 season is done and it’s been a season with a new team for Gerloff, who praised the Bonovo Action BMW outfit and the atmosphere within the team: “The atmosphere has been awesome; Les Pearson, my crew chief and Andy Leivers, my electronics guys, we work so well together as a trio. We go over the data so good together and we have a ton of fun. This year with this team, not just Les and Andy but the mechanics, the boss and manager, it is such a good group of people and I’ve had so much fun with the team. It’s the first time I’ve consistently had fun racing in a while. That really puts a nice atmosphere to keep learning and keep improving; if it’s always negative or if you’re not doing good enough, then it really discourages you. With us having as much fun as we are, it keeps everybody engaged and focused; it’s just such a nice atmosphere.”
“TRACK TIME HAS BEEN HUGE” – you can’t rush progress
Evaluating his 2023 so far, the 27-year-old has felt progress in his first year with BMW: “From the beginning of the year, we’ve made steps with chassis and geometry, which made the bike feel more normal and natural with how everything has worked. In the last couple of the rounds, we’ve been in a good shape with the geometry but we’ve made steps with the electronics, which has especially helped. Andy’s been doing an epic job; if I have an issue, then he’s good at improving the feeling. He looks at everything closely and he’s done a great job at giving me what I want.
“Track time has been huge. In Australia and Indonesia, I’d had testing but it didn’t feel natural or like my bike, it just felt like a bike. When we came back to Europe, Assen was OK and it felt better but then in Barcelona, everything started to feel a bit more like it was mine. We made changes to setup and that was really good. That comes after having enough track time and trying different setups. When we’re trying to make small adjustments, you want to do it slowly and make sure they’re going in the right direction. Otherwise, if you haphazardly say it did work but you’re not really sure, then you can get lost.”
TOP 5 THE TARGET: “I think it’s reasonable if we can keep going in the way we’re going”
“I hope to be consistently fighting for top Independent but that’s not going to be easy!”, continued the #31. “Petrucci just went out and got a third place and Axel Bassani has been riding really strong this year, as well as the GRT guys at certain tracks. My team deserves it too, to be consistently recognised. I’d imagine, based on how strong the other Independents are, it means fighting for the top five. I hope that’s the case; I think it’s reasonable if we can keep going in the way we’re going.”
The next round of 2023 will also be Gerloff’s first time at Imola, a track he’s been relishing to get to: “For me, I seem to be good at learning new tracks; I like going to them. I have no past history there, positive or negative. There’s nothing in my mind to distract me from just riding. Imola will be cool and I’ve always watched that track ever since I started road racing. It’s been one of my favourites just because of how crazy it is. Up and down, through the trees, it looks epic! It reminds me of a lot of American tracks as it’s an anti-clockwise track. Also, they’re mostly natural terrain tracks. All things considered, I hope to be strong there because it’s similar to what I’ve been used to in the USA. I think it might be a good start.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com