Why Garrett Gerloff’s triple top-10 at UK WorldSBK was mistimed

Garrett Gerloff bounced back from a miserable Misano weekend to finish all three races in the top-10 at the UK WorldSBK.

Gerloff had a best finish of sixth at Donington, that coming in Race 2, compared to a best of 12th at Misano, again in Race 2.

The American had announced his new Kawasaki contract at the Emilia-Romagna WorldSBK, which was also the Manuel Puccetti-run team’s home round.

The good results at Donington, then, would’ve been better coming a few weeks earlier as far as Gerloff is concerned.

“It’s nice to come here and have a lot more solid weekend than Misano – which I hate, I wish I could have a better Misano for the team and a worse Donington, but here we are,” Garrett Gerloff said after Race 2 at Donington.

On the UK WorldSBK, Gerloff added: “We changed a bunch of stuff this weekend. We still started in a good place so we weren’t having to come from super-far behind, but I think for sure we ended with the best setting in the bike, in Race 2, so it’s nice to end like that.

“Sometimes I leave the track still wondering what I’m missing, but I felt like we had a good setting today.”

It was a good weekend in general for the Kawasaki group of riders, with Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani taking a fourth place each on Sunday. In Race 2 in particular, the Bimotas went 4-5 with Gerloff in that sixth place – a long way from the top three Ducatis, but ahead of most of the independent Ducatis and of the other factory bikes.

Of the three, Gerloff thinks Lowes is performing the best this year in terms of consistency.

“I think Alex [Lowes] is for sure the most consistent of the three of us,” the American said.

“Axel [Bassani] is super-fast, for sure, but maybe not as consistent, a bit like me – I’ve been a bit inconsistent this year. 

“So, it would be nice if Axel and myself could be more consistent, but props to Alex because it doesn’t matter if he feels good or bad, he’s always there in the top-five, it seems like.”

Gerloff added that he and the Kawasaki team have some cooperation with Bimota, but that he needs a team-mate to properly assess his level.

“I can see all the data from Alex and Axel,” Gerloff said.

“Just, sometimes it doesn’t feel super-relevant because it is such a different chassis on the bike that I really don’t know if where I’m seeing myself lose time is a place where I can ever go faster on my bike, because they are a lot different bikes. 

“It’s a reference, but I’d love a team-mate, just to know if I’m actually doing well or not.”