Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) secured his first MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship podium in almost two years on Sunday as he claimed third place in Race 2 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. It was also a joyous moment for the Bonovo BMW team as they achieved their first WorldSBK podium.

For Gerloff his last podium result came in Race 1 of the 2022 Catalunya Round in the September of that season, when he was still on Yamaha machinery.

“First off I just want to say I wish the speediest recovery to Toprak (Razgatlioglu), it’s a shame to not have him out there and for sure it would have been a lot harder to get on the podium if he was here, but I was able to get it done,” said the Bonovo BMW rider as he reflected on a successful Race 2 at the Motul French Round.

He added, “This year I honestly thought we were going to start a lot stronger and have more podiums, at least one by now but this year has been a struggle since the beginning and we’re finally figuring things out. We’ve all had our heads down and we’ve all been focussed. To finally have it all pay off for the team, it’s a big relief, the emotions are high for everybody.”

Asked about his improving feeling and results at recent rounds Gerloff stated, “I think the biggest thing is we’ve just found a set-up that feels like it is working. It wasn’t perfect, but we just kept riding. It’s helped me a lot to predict the bike more and to ride in front of the bike, that’s helped me to be more consistent. We’re having to work with things that are completely different to last year so we’ve been through a metamorphosis, working through a bunch of stuff to get where we are now. But we’ve found something good and I feel like we’re here now for the most part.”

Gerloff will aim to continue on an upward trajectory at the remaining rounds of the 2024 season, before his switch from BMW machinery to Kawasaki Puccetti Racing for the 2025 campaign.

Bonovo Action BMW team manager Michael Galinski said of the team’s first WorldSBK rostrum result, “We are very proud now, it’s been a really, really long time. We have a very good team, so I want to thank everybody. It was good that we came back with fourth in the first race with Scott (Redding), but now the first podium for us it’s really unbelievable. Garret is not always a fast starter, but coming from the middle of races he gets faster and faster. He manages the tyres very well in the end and if he can go a little faster in the first three or four laps he could also win a race.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com