Garrett Gerloff (born August 1, 1995) is an American motorcycle racer who has competed in the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

since 2020. He rides a

Yamaha YZF-R1 The Yamaha YZF-R1, or simply R1, is a -class sports motorcycle made by Yamaha. It was first released in 1998, undergoing significant updates in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2018

. He was a two-time champion

MotoAmerica MotoAmerica is the organization that promotes the AMA Superbike Series since 2015. Sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), it features six classes of road racing: S ...

in the Supersport class after taking first place overall in 2016 and again in 2017.

Career

Early career

Beginning in 2007 Gerloff began competing in the Western Eastern Roadracing Association (WERA). By the 2010 and 2011 seasons he was competing and finishing first and second overall in the Superbike and Superstock categories on a Yamaha 600. Following success in the WERA national series, he stepped up to the AMA Daytona Sportbike Championship in 2011 and 2012 beginning in the regional series before moving into the national competition in 2013. In his two years in the Daytona Sportbike Championship, he finished 3rd in 2013 and 6th in 2014. When

took the place as the national road racing competition, Gerloff landed in the MotoAmerica Supersport class in 2015, finishing 3rd on his first attempt. He become champion in the Supersport class in 2016 and 2017.

MotoAmerica Superbike Championship

Gerloff's success in Supersport earned him a seat with the factory Yamaha team for the 2018 season in the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. Gerloff finished the season with 5 podiums and fifth overall in the season standings. Gerloff earned his first Superbike win at Laguna Seca on July 14, 2019. In 2019 he achieved four wins overall and 11 podiums from 20 races. He ultimately finished third in the 2019 overall standings behind

Cameron Beaubier Cameron Charles Beaubier (born December 6, 1992) is an American motorcycle racer. He won the MotoAmerica championship 5 times. In 2022 he rode a Kalex in the Moto2 World Championship. Career Early career After competing in the 2007 Red Bull M ...

and Toni Elias, 51 points behind the champion.

Superbike World Championship

Gerloff's performances in MotoAmerica lead to a move to the factory-supported GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team in the

2020 Superbike World Championship The 2020 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship was the 33rd season of the Superbike World Championship. Race calendar and results The 2020 season calendar was announced on 21 November 2019, with 13 rounds scheduled. The championship visited Cir ...

. Gerloff finished the season with two third places in Catalunya and Estoril. He ended the year in 11th place with 103 points. He was subsequently signed to a further season with the GRT Yamaha team. Gerloff made further progress in his second year in World Superbike and was signed to another one year contract to compete with GRT Yamaha WorldSBK team in 2022. He did not record any wins on the season but he increased his number of podium finishes and was a consistent top five finisher throughout most of

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, though he briefly incurred controversy when he crashed into Factory Yamaha rider Toprak Razgatlioglu at Assen. His improved results helped the GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team clinch the Independent Team's Championship while Gerloff himself clinched the Independent Rider's Championship as the highest scoring rider not riding for a factory team. From 2023 season, he competed for Bonovo Action BMW Team.

MotoGP World Championship

After delays to

Valentino Rossi Valentino Rossi (; ; born 16 February 1979) is an Italian former professional motorcycle road racer and nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. Nicknamed ''The Doctor'', he is widely considered to be one of the greatest motorcyc ...

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

recovery in November 2020, Gerloff was announced initially to replace Rossi at the

European Grand Prix The European Grand Prix (also known as the Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held every year from to , except in . During these years, the European Grand Prix was held in a countr ...

. Gerloff completed the Friday free practice sessions, before Rossi's negative tests allowed his return to the third practice session on Saturday, and Gerloff was subsequently withdrawn from the race weekend. Gerloff made his MotoGP race debut at the 2021 Dutch TT riding for the Sepang Racing Yamaha team as a replacement for the injured

Franco Morbidelli Franco Morbidelli (born 4 December 1994) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer in MotoGP, riding for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team. He became champion in the 2013 European Superstock 600 Championship, and the 2017 Moto2 World Champio ...

. He was the first American to race in the premier class since his idol

Nicky Hayden Nicholas Patrick Hayden (July 30, 1981 May 22, 2017), nicknamed "The Kentucky Kid", was an American professional motorcycle racer who won the MotoGP World Championship in 2006. Hayden began racing motorcycles at a young age. He began his roa ...

's last outing in 2016. Gerloff did not get to ride the newest YZR-M1, instead riding Morbidelli's 'A-Spec' 2019 version. Gerloff finished the race in seventeenth position.

Career statistics

MotoAmerica Superbike Championship

By season

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

By class

Races by year

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Superbike World Championship

By season

Races by year

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerloff, Garrett 1995 births Living people American motorcycle racers Sportspeople from Texas Superbike World Championship riders Yamaha Motor Racing MotoGP riders MotoGP World Championship riders Sepang Racing Team MotoGP riders 21st-century American people