Page 43 - GRID-4

GARRETTGERLOFF
SUPERSPORT
In a somewhat bizarre qualifying session where
the track was in less than ideal conditions due to a
heavy storm the night prior and a crisp sting to the
air, Gerloff ended up putting his Monster Energy/
Yamalube/YES/Graves/Yamaha in second position
He narrowly missed out on pole position by mere hundredths of a
second to Valentin Debise as the battle at the top of the Supersport class remains as close as ever before. The Texan got shuffled back to third posi- tion on the opening lap of the first race as Valentin Debise and JD Beach duked it out in the lead. As the trio closed in on the finish line for the first time, Gerloff grabbed a double slip-stream and shot up the inside of his competitors as they grabbed their brake levers before the first corner. In an instant, his Yamaha collided with the leg of Debise and
the Frenchman was forced to take evasive action, running off into the grass. Considering the previ- ous night’s rainfall, Debise wasn’t able to keep his bike on two wheels and hit the deck, leaving Gerloff to battle with his teammate for the victory. Beach maintained the lead for the first couple of laps, but the two of them immediately began to battle with one another. Gerloff was incredibly strong on the brakes at the end of the main straightaway as he continued to draft his teammate and try the inside heading into the first corner, but Beach was able
to fight back between turns three and four, holding a tighter line to the apex. They played a game of cat and mouse throughout the opening stages of the race, but eventually Gerloff cemented himself in the lead. The defending champion racked up consistent lap times one after another, incessantly gaining a couple tenths here and a couple of tents there on his teammate. At the checkered flag, he managed an advantage of almost four seconds
as he grabbed his second victory of the year. On Sunday, Gerloff found himself in third position
again throughout the first couple laps as he tucked in behind Debise and Beach. In a freakish turn of events, Debise crashed in turn one yet again on the second lap of the race and left the Yamaha duo to duke it out of the victory yet again. The two of them dusted one another up throughout the early stages of the race, but Gerloff decided to concede the lead and ended up settling into second position until the midway point of the race. From the halfway mark
to the checkered flag, the two teammates battled back and forth almost each and every lap. Gerloff found himself in second position on the final run to the line and attempted to make the draft work, but he fell just short as he finished one tenth behind Beach at the line.
on the grid with a 1:28.653.
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