2023 was, statistically speaking, Garrett Gerloff’s (Bonovo Action BMW) worst season in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, finishing outside of the top 11 for the first time in his career and without a podium to his name – and yet, those numbers and the feeling at the end of the year couldn’t have been more diametrically opposed.
Because as much as statistics can tell one story, they can tell another: that of a rider who ended the year as the standout BMW rider, with multiple top-5 finishes in the final third of the season and with a pole position to his name (the first for an American rider in 12 years). In a relatively unremarkable year for BMW, Gerloff, the most inexperienced rider of their 2023 quartet in terms of BMW machinery, was in fact quietly impressive.
Flashforward to 2024, and after a long break back home in Texas – “I needed it after all the racing last year” – Gerloff is eager to carry that momentum into the new season.
“I was really happy with all the progress we made, especially the last half of the year”, said Gerloff at the BMW launch event in Berlin. “To finally get close to the podium and to get a pole position was amazing. I have high hopes for this year. I really think that with the same team, with the same awesome guys that I’ve been working with, we can make another step forward. With Toprak being here, and the other guys, Michael and Scott, we have a really strong rider line-up, and a lot of data to pool from to improve these M 1000 RRs a lot”.
THE NEXT STEP FORWARD: “Toprak is obviously a guy that people listen to”
After a year spent gradually getting to grips with the M 1000 RR throughout last year – following five years on a Yamaha R1, split between Motoamerica and WorldSBK – Gerloff is now in a more comfortable position to speak about the strengths of the package and where resources can be pooled into going in forward.
“We’re not struggling for power, that’s one thing this bike does really well. The front end also feels really good to me. I feel like just a little bit of electronic stuff. Engine braking could be a bit more consistent and a bit smoother. Maybe a bit on the TC [traction control] side, but not a lot. That’s what I’m saying. We’re not missing a lot, but if you’re missing two tenths a lap, that’s two seconds at the end of the race; it’s all about those last ‘nths’ of a degree. We’re a lot closer than we were at the beginning of last year”.
It’s one area where Gerloff believes the arrival of Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) can have a positive influence on the entire project: “I think he can bring a lot of direction. He’s obviously a guy that people listen to. For the engineers, if we can all be on the same page as riders, I feel like it can steer the ship of the project”.
Should everything line up properly, Gerloff’s target is clear: the one glaring omission from his 2023 results: “I want a damn podium, bad! I got close last year but no cigar. A podium would be super nice. That pole position also tasted super good, so a few more of those wouldn’t be bad, but it’s going to be tough, not gonna lie”.
GALINSKI’S GOAL: “We hope for a big battle with Scott”
Bonovo Action BMW Team Principal Michael Galinski, after the satisfactory end to the season, is also setting a high bar for Gerloff in the new year: “Garrett is really good. He came from up from being down and he got really good results. I hope he can start in the same way he finished last year. We hope for a big battle with Scott and we expect him to be in the top five”.
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Source: WorldSBK.com