After a tough first WorldSBK feature race and a Superpole sprint race that placed him top five Garrett Gerloff needed a result at Donington Paqrk and second place in the final race at was it.

He could maybe have been closer to the fight between eventual faller Rea and winner Razgatlioglu. “I feel like for sure, if I didn’t have to battle with Leon and Tom a little bit in the beginning, and maybe if I had a better start maybe I could have been there,” said Gerloff, cautiously.

“At least from what the team said, it seemed like the times were pretty close to Toprak, but I just had the gap already. Then sure at the end I think he stretched it a bit. But I feel really good. To be on the podium again feels so nice. It’s been a long time. It just hasn’t been the start of the season that I was hoping for. It’s been a bit of a struggle. It just feels really nice to kind of finally have something turn around and kind of go my way a little bit.”

Gerloff is sixth overall and pleased that his best result came in the longer race at Donington. “Yeah, for sure the long race is where it counts,” he explained, “that’s where all the focus and energy is put into it.”

Now only 24 points off a championship third place the next goal for Gerloff is clear - race wins. “I want to win more than anything, for sure. I definitely want to be on the top of the box, which is a tall order but I definitely know that we have all the pieces to be able to do it. We just have to put them together. I just want to be more consistent. I’d like to be consistently on the podium, at least.

“I know that we have the speed and everything to be there. For some reason things haven’t been going my way in the beginning. I’m hoping that things turn around after this weekend. That’s the goal.”

There was no update on Gerloff’s eventual ride for 2022, despite rumours suggesting his is now most likely to stay with Yamaha and even GRT in WorldSBK.
“For sure we’re working on it (2022). I’m really happy with everything that’s been going on with GRT and everything like that. For sure we’re working on things. The great thing is that I’m already on the factory bike.”

But not the factory team, he was quizzed, “Yeah, but we have all the same resources to pull from. I’m really happy with my crew chief and also our team overseer. They’ve been working really well together on giving me an awesome bike. Like I said, it’s just been me that hasn’t been able to put it together. Everybody on the team, I really appreciate their passion for racing and everything. I know they want it really bad, which gets me fired up. So, I would be happy to stay with GRT for sure.”

The Yamaha just seems a better, more rounded and capable package than at any time in recent history, and Gerloff agrees. “Yeah. I would say that the R&D guys back at Yamaha have been doing a damn good job of trying to fine-tune everything, and to squeak out all the time from the bike as possible. I feel like for sure we’re getting better and better, and the bike is for sure competitive.”