Gerloff: My options were hit him or get to his inside and hopefully miss him

Garrett Gerloff recovered from an early crash at turn 13 to claim seventh place in the final WorldSBK race of the opening round in Aragon. 

The American was running second behind championship leader Jonathan Rea and lining up a move for the lead during the opening laps. 

But as the pair arrived into turn 13, Gerloff was unable to stop his R1 and had to avoid hitting the rear of Rea’s Kawasaki. Subsequently, it led to a rather late surge to the inside however, contact was still made as Gerloff lost the front after hitting Rea.

The six-time world champion used his motocross skills to full effect as he managed to stay aboard his Ninja ZR-10RR.  

It was not the outcome Gerloff would have been anticipating or hoping for after having taken his first podium of 2021 in the Superpole race.

Speaking about both races, the GRT Yamaha man added: "Our Sunday started off really well with a third place in the Superpole Race. The team and I made a perfect decision to go with the intermediate tyre, and it worked." 

"It was nice to be on the podium, even though I felt like I could have gotten second place. In Race 2 I felt really good since the start, and wanted to at least fight for the podium, so I’m very frustrated with the mistake I made. 

"I was behind Johnny (Rea), but I couldn’t stop as quickly as he did, and my options were either to hit him in the back or to get to his inside and hopefully miss him, so that’s what I tried to do. 

"Unfortunately I still ran into him, but at least he was able to stay on two wheels. I crashed, but I managed to pick up the bike right away and keep going. It was a bit bent, but overall the bike was good, so I tried to give the team the best possible result despite the mistake. 

"It was nice to be the top independent rider at the finish. Next week we go to Estoril, a track that both I and my R1 really like, so see you there."