Garrett Gerloff will “probably be out” of WorldSBK if 2026 crew change fails

A crew change has been described as “my last chance to make it happen” in WorldSBK for Garrett Gerloff.

A year after joining the Puccetti-run Kawasaki WorldSBK team, Gerloff has decided on a change of crew chief for the 2026 season.

Gerloff will work with Les Pearson as his crew chief in 2026, someone he has worked with in the past.

The American said that bringing Pearson in is his “last chance” at making World Superbike work for him after five years in the World Championship that have seen him drift from a regular podium contender at Yamaha to a 2025 season where top-10s have been hard to come by in his first Kawasaki year.

“It was something that everybody agreed with, that maybe it was something that we could change,” Garrett Gerloff said, speaking to WorldSBK.com after the first day of the Jerez post-race test on 21 October.  

“It was going better and better [with the previous crew chief] until Donington, and then we just started getting worse and worse. Hard to know why. 

“This is like my last chance to make it happen, otherwise I’ll probably be out of this paddock, to be honest. 

“I want to put everything on the table that’s going to help me figure out how to get faster, otherwise I’m going to be out of here.”

Gerloff last worked with the British engineer at the Bonovo BMW team, and he explained that the Jerez test was largely about helping Pearson understand the Kawasaki.

“It wasn’t bad,” Gerloff summarised. “The biggest thing is trying to get my new crew chief, Les Pearson, up to speed, just with all the numbers on the bike and everything that we’ve done for most of the year. 

“We threw a lot of stuff at the bike, changing different setup stuff, geometry, just trying to get an understanding for him and also for myself of what different changes make the bike feel like. 

“Not going to lie, it gets a bit complicated, I got a little lost a bit, but in the end [we] can be decently happy with how it went. 

“[I’m] only testing today, so not going to be testing again until next year. So, it’s kind of a baptism by fire for him to just get up to speed in one day.”

Gerloff added: “It was nice just to have a familiar face back with me. It’s like we hadn’t even stopped working together, so that was nice, and I feel like we collaborate really well together.

“So, I think, all in all, it’s been good.”

Nothing clearly better

If there was something that frustrated Gerloff about the Jerez test it was the continuation of something he has found all season, which is that the changes he makes to the Kawasaki ZX-10RR do not make the bike better, necessarily, rather they can only alter what the bike does better or worse.

“It’s complicated with this bike sometimes because there’s – like anything – positives and negatives,” he said.

“I wish there was something that we tried today that was just all positive, but it just seems like it always balances out to where it’s equal parts negative, equal parts positive. 

“So, I feel like we did a lot but we just kind of stayed still all day, just doing the same times but changing a lot. 

“So, that’s what frustrates me. But nothing to do with the team or anything, just frustrated with not being able to find something that really makes me feel like I’m taking a step forward.”

Finally, Gerloff says there are some parts he is hoping to receive from Kawasaki in time for the resumption of testing in January, although his main concern remains finding a 
“comfortable” setup on the bike.

“I’m sure there’s going to be some parts that we’re pushing for from Kawasaki’s side, that Les is going to be asking for,” he said.

“But, really, it’s all setup for me, we’ve just got to find a setup that works. I just haven’t felt comfortable all year. 

“There’s been a couple of places where I haven’t felt too bad, but I just need to find something that feels like ‘This is my bike’. 

“It’s been a year and I still haven’t got there, so I’ve just got to find that.”