From a Press Release Issued by Yamaha:
Fontana, CA – April 27, 2014 – In Round One of the GEICO Motorcycle Superbike Shootout Presented By Yamaha, Y.E.S./Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha teammates Garrett Gerloff and JD Beach both finished in the top five of today’s Yamaha SoCal Nationals Pro Sportbike Race at Auto Club Speedway. Garrett finished in second place after a spirited charge to the front, and JD netted a solid fifth-place result, while he continues to acclimate to his new team.
Garrett got a good start from the second row of the grid, but a missed shift caused his #8 Yamaha YZF-R6 Pro Sportbike to overrev, and it momentarily shut off as a safety precaution. He quickly got the bike running again and proceeded on his way, albeit a fair distance back in the field. Despite the adversity, Garrett went to work and started moving towards the lead. As the laps wound down, he made his way all the up to second place. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough laps left in race for Garrett to get close enough to challenge for the lead.
After the race, Garrett said, “I got a good launch and kind of missed a shift into second gear. The bike revved and stopped running, so that put me in a difficult situation. I didn’t give up, though, and I decided to just work on putting down fast lap after fast lap. I was happy that I was able to get back up to second place and get on the podium, but not so happy that I had a bad start.
If I could have been a bit little closer to the front, I might have been able to fight for the win. I’m glad that we have a race next weekend at Sonoma (Round Two of the GEICO Motorcycle Superbike Shootout Presented By Yamaha at Sonoma Raceway) because I’m so hungry for a win!”
Tune In To MAVTV For The Yamaha SoCal Nationals Pro Sportbike Race
Today’s Pro Sportbike race was taped for airing later on MAVTV. Log on to www.MAVTV.com for the exact time and channel, and don’t miss it!
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