In the Argentinian round of the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship at San Juan, Garrett Gerloff finished Race 1 in 13th, with Kohta Nozane just missing out on points.
In the Tissot Superpole, the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team riders both tried to extract the most performance out of their Yamaha R1 machines. After taking a provisional seventh place on the grid, Gerloff went for even more on his final lap, but unfortunately couldn’t improve and found himself 12th (1’37.399). On the other side of the garage, Nozane made steps forward compared to practice on his penultimate flying lap, eventually qualifying 15th (1’38.108).
Race 1 saw Gerloff drop to 17th in a hectic opening lap, with the American settling into a battle just outside the top 10 positions. With six laps to go, the 27-year-old got through on Philipp Oettl’s GoEleven Ducati to take 15th, eventually catching Bonovo Action BMW’s Eugene Laverty three laps later, showing great late pace and setting his personal best on the very last lap.
Instead, Nozane enjoyed a solid getaway off the grid, gaining one position and putting himself in contention for points. The Japanese ace was able to run just behind teammate Gerloff, and the 2020 All-Japan JSB1000 Champion showed consistent pace throughout the tricky 17 corners of Circuit San Juan Villicum, crossing the line in 18th.
Eager to progress even more, the two will be back in action tomorrow with the Superpole Race at 12:00 local time (GMT-3) and Race 2, which will start at 15.00.
Garrett Gerloff: P13
“That’s not the Race 1 we wanted, but we have to deal with it. Starting from behind of course didn’t help as I’m struggling to find places to pass people. Whenever I have free space, I’m capable of fast laps, but things change once I’m following other guys. It’s a bit frustrating as we could be placed higher, but we don’t give up and try to find something good for the remaining races.”
Kohta Nozane: P18
“Unfortunately the position is not great as I wanted to score points, but once again we proved that our pace was good overall. The rhythm was consistent and we stayed close to our rivals until the end, it’s a shame we couldn’t translate our good feelings into a points-paying place. We’ll try to push even more tomorrow in the last two races.”
