Holy Mother of Black Baby Jesus, today's race was amazing! Where the hell was this version of Gerloff hiding for the past couple of years?! And so much for the conspiracy theories about his inferior satellite bike. That being looks plenty fast to me. Meh, he got 6 free races.
What sucks is I fear next year will be a return to Garrett from the beginning of this season. Hope I’m wrong. and you’re right. Still sucks when you think a stroke of luck has allowed you back in it only to lose it again for something out of your control. And I still want toprak to take it all but obviously it’s more exciting with a closer points chase (and I’m confident toprak wins the ship even without bulegas problems today).
I don't think the belonging was ever an issue. But most of the time, he hasn't lived up to his potential.
Wow... unbelievable race from lap 1 to the last corner. Garrett rode like a beast today - hats off as showed aggression like we haven't seen from him in the past 3 years. Cant wait for tomorrows 2 races as well!
So happy for Garrett! Loved seeing how he passed Bautista back on the last lap. Love seeing that confidence. Let's go!
Yep another solid performance. And like the commentators said, glad to see him taking that shot at the end, even if it didn’t work out.
Yes and no. I'd be interested to see if KHI provides them extra resources being the only Kawi branded team next year as opposed to the Bimota factory squad.
Great riding by Gerloff this weekend. I hope that he's able to build on this weekend for the last few rounds. He may end up with some more 4th - 7th place finishes. (In spite of his progress, I don't see him beating an in-form Top-Kat, Bautista, nor Bulega) Excellent riding by Top-Kat as well, given the severity of his injuries just a few weeks ago. Bautista seems like his ribs are well and he's not fighting the bike too much. First in Superpole Race and Race-II is impressive. Bummer for Alex Lowes. He rode the bronco, but it definitely bit back. That high-side was wicked. Race one was the best of the weekened, IMO.
GG may have a rough go next season on that Kawi! Just do not think that bike is consistently competitive.
Eh, can’t help but wonder how much of it is just Alex. Bassani can’t seem to crack the top 10 with it. I’m still curious why the split from Bonovo. I thought I remembered first reading that Bonovo were leaving the series but now I keep hearing they’ll just be on Ducs next year. Seems like he’s a decent fit there, he’s outperforming his teammate, and it seems to be a given that they’ll be better equipped than puchetti. Can’t figure out why he isn’t returning there.
For me it was the most impressive weekend of racing I've ever seen from GG since he went overseas. Speed, aggression, patience, his starts were improved (turn 1 boat anchor wasn't tossed out as has been the past 3 years), etc... Huge congrats to him and the team - love that they get a full 3 races with no bogeys thrown in to celebrate and Garrett can hold his head high - he's got damn near double the points of his team mate currently and is proving his worth these past 3-4 rounds.
Bonovo initially said they were folding up (said publicly then as well to BMW as well according to them), then backtracked and said "we are actually just leaving BMW and looking to run a single rider team next year". Redding has a 2 year contract direct with BMW and it looks like they want him back in BSB next year which takes care of him, but he's keen to stay in WSBK. I'm guessing Garrett was told "teams closing down, we are telling you early so you can go look for a job" and Puccetti was the only slot available I'm again, guessing. Rinaldi lost his spot, Brad Ray seems to be going back to BSB, and the two satellite Honda riders are also not confirmed yet I don't think so maybe Taz Mackenzie goes back to BSB as well.
I don’t know AL22 enough to have an opinion on it but the bike is hanging with the others and he puts it where he wants and it’s decent on power… hopefully GG31 gels with it too… if he believes he can or he can’t he’s right… I think the Duc will be way better next year… leaps and bounds better as that entire chassis dynamic just changed and all its other great attributes will be amplified instead of limited by the SSSA I hope BMW can make improvements for Toprak too because although he’s the most talented a better Duc could be troublesome as there are so many good riders in them…