Published July 15, 2022 by Michael Le Pard , Editor‑in‑Chief
Solid Opening Day in Donington for GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team
After a five-week break, the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team returned to action today at the iconic Donington Park, with Garrett Gerloff going ninth fastest on combined times, while Kohta Nozane was 22nd.
The American rider ended Free Practice 1 in 14th (1’29.559), while his Japanese teammate finished 20th (1’31.272), with both aiming to improve their speed in the hotter afternoon session.
GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team riders were eager to extract more potential in Free Practice 2 and so they did, despite mainly focusing on longer runs. Gerloff improved his lap times throughout the session, going ninth fastest on a 1’28.431, with Nozane making steps forward to go 1.520s faster than the morning.
Both riders will be back on track tomorrow, firstly with FP3 at 09:00 local time (GMT+1), before the Tissot Superpole qualifying at 11:10 and Race 1 at 14:00.
Garrett Gerloff: P9 – 1’28.431
“It was an interesting day in a lot of different ways. We found something with the electronics which is positive. We finished the day running with used tyres but we still kept improving. This is what counts as we’re trying to be consistent at the end of the race. The overall position is not where I want to be, but there are a lot of positive things to take into tomorrow.”
Kohta Nozane: P22 – 1’29.752
“Not the easiest day, but we managed to find good things here in Donington. Firstly I tried to get confidence quickly on this track, then we kept working on improving lap by lap. We made a huge step between FP1 and FP2 and we’re looking forward to make more progress tomorrow.”
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