Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) has been on an incredible run of form in recent rounds, collecting two podiums and being a consistent presence in the top ten of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. He continued that run at Aragon, taking third in Race 1 and two more top-five finishes in Sunday’s two races for the Tissot Aragon Round, and the #31 has moved into ninth in the Riders’ Championship standings.

Gerloff’s self-confessed weakness this season has been the Tissot Superpole sessions, and he secured P10 on the grid for Race 1, before eventually moving his way up the order in a frantic race to claim third and a second podium of the season. On Sunday, he once again went from P10 in the Tissot Superpole Race to finish in fifth and secure a second row start for Race 2, giving him a better grid position and the possibility to fight for the podium.

Discussing his Superpole Race, the Texan said: “I was really happy with the pace that I had. I didn’t realise how fast they were going up at the front, which was even faster! I was happy to be doing 1’48s on the race tyre and, in general, I felt like I had a really good bike underneath me. I had a couple of issues pop up but nothing major. I gave it all I had so I can be happy.”

In Race 2, Gerloff was able to maintain his grid position at the end of the race although he had been in the podium fight. He ran in fourth from Laps 2 to 8, before moving ahead of Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) to get into a podium place. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) was on a comeback charge and he demoted the #31 to fourth before Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) came through to take P4 away from Gerloff.

Reflecting on Race 2, a positive Gerloff stated: “I’d say it’s probably the best weekend I’ve had in a really long time. That’s something super positive. I’m a bit disappointed as I thought I’d have a bit more pace in Race 2 to be able to stay in third. As soon as I got to third, I just, for some reason, lacked a bit of pace. Props to Nicolo and also Alvaro and Toprak. They had super-fast pace. I did everything that I could, I made a lunge on Iannone on the last lap. I missed the shift so that didn’t help me at all! I was pushing the front but couldn’t stop. All in all, to be top five all weekend except for Superpole was pretty good.”

Aragon was the first time in his WorldSBK career that Gerloff took three top-five finishes in a weekend, and it capped off a remarkable run of form. Since, and including, Portimao, the eight-time podium finisher has been outside the top 10 twice in 12 races. Between Australia and Most, he was inside the top ten four times – and two of those were at the season-opening Australian Round.

Discussing what’s changed in recent rounds to create this form, Gerloff said: “I think everything just stayed pretty consistent in the last few weekends. We haven’t been chasing our tail, we’ve been in a similar ballpark of setting and electronics. It’s been easier for me to push a bit closer to the limit and not feel like I’m riding over the limit. That’s been something nice. That’s all I really need, for the bike to be predictable, and I can try to ride a bit beyond it. I’ve felt pretty good all year on the bike, riding, I just haven’t had any lap time. For whatever reason, it’s been sorted out in the last few weekends, and it’s just come together. It’s late, which is annoying, but I’ve known I’ve got pace as a rider, I’ve got a good team and a good bike.”

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