WorldSBK Catalunya: Gerloff settles for third - ‘I have looked like an idiot in the past’

Garrett Gerloff first took a WorldSBK podium at Catalunya, and it was the first one he took a podium at in over a year when he came through the pack to almost take second place from Jonathan Rea.

So something about this circuit is pecial for him, even if it was the scene of his infamous warm-up lap crash in 2021, while sporting Yamaha’s anniversary white and red colour schemes.

He was able to go forwards when others ended up going backwards, and really quickly. “In the beginning of the race, I was like, all right, here we go again,” said Gerloff. “It’s going to be another eighth or ninth position, but I just did everything I could to stay with the guys that I was around.

“I lost a little bit in the beginning, but I could see that through all the long right-handers they were just smoking the tyres. I saw Locatelli and Lecuona just smoke coming off. That’s when I was thinking in my head, ‘all right, I don’t think they’re going to make it to the end.’ I could be wrong, but just try to ease off a little bit and just save the tyre. Thinking that it might come back to me at the end.

“The only difficult part about that is that sometimes when you don’t get the same drive as they do, out of one of the right-handers into the next corner, you can get dive-bombed. So, in the beginning of the race, I had some difficulty with that. Then everybody was going the same speed. I just kept trying to be easy with the gas.

“Then the last half of the race, how fast everybody came to me was unexpected. I’m surprised to be here, to be honest. This weekend hasn’t been bad, but it hasn’t been special. I just tried to ride my race and not get too antsy with the gas, especially. Here I am. I’m pumped.”

Gerloff thought about making an attack on Rea