Top Five for GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team in Magny-Cours Race 1
Garrett Gerloff scored a fifth-place finish in the FIM Superbike World Championship Race 1 at Magny-Cours, his best result of the season so far, while Kohta Nozane missed out on points despite showing promising pace.
The GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team duo returned to action this morning for Free Practice 3, finally in dry conditions. Gerloff went eighth fastest (1’37.454), with Nozane 16th (1’38.938)
In qualifying, Gerloff managed a 1’36.464, which was good enough for fifth, while his Japanese teammate improved on this morning’s lap time by 1.108s and eventually qualified 17th.
At the start of the race, Gerloff got off the line well but lost positions in a hectic opening lap. The 27-year-old still managed to find pace and put himself into podium contention, crossing the line in fifth.
Nozane had a decent getaway and gained positions in the early stages. The #3 rider battled for a points-scoring position, but unfortunately missed out in the final few laps.
The GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team will be back at Magny-Cours tomorrow in the Superpole Race at 11:00 (CEST) and Race 2 at 14.00.
Garrett Gerloff: P5
“It’s nice to be top five in the Superpole and in Race 1, we’re going in the right direction. Everything seems like it’s working well and I’m glad we were able to stay on two wheels, we had a couple of big moments but that’s racing! We started to catch Bassani with eight laps to go, but unfortunately we had difficulty with the tyres. It was still a good battle with Lowes. We’ll try to push for more tomorrow.”
Kohta Nozane: P17
“It’s a shame we couldn’t make it into the points. I felt good on the bike and the pace was not too bad. In the early stages I had a good rhythm and I gained a lot of positions, but in the final laps I clashed with other riders and eventually lost time. We’ll work hard to come back stronger tomorrow.”
