The 2022 pre-season is officially over. With the last DWO Supported Test sustained at MotorLand Aragòn on 4th-5th April, the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team finished its preparations with Kohta Nozane and Garrett Gerloff for the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship, which will start on 8th-10th April in Aragòn.
Cold conditions awaited both riders on the first day, which forced the team to not push too much in the morning (11:35-12:20) apart from making shakedown laps. In the following afternoon sessions, both Gerloff and Nozane bounced back on track with good progress made throughout FP2 (14:25-15:10) and FP3 (16:55-17:40).
Indeed, the American rider managed to finish the day fourth fastest on combined times, with a personal best of 1.50.120 and 36 laps completed. On the other side of the box, the Japanese ace gained confidence each session and ended eighth fastest with 1.50.520 and 37 laps in total.
Afterwards, the day after the GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team encountered once again cold conditions during the morning. Luckily, this time Nozane and Gerloff managed to complete more laps followed by many more in the afternoon stages.
Both riders tried to find pace and improved their feeling, finishing 16th, with the Japanese having a 1.50.683 as personal best over 41 laps, and 4th fastest as the American scored a 1.49.235 as his best with 49 laps in total on Day 2. Counting both days, Gerloff concluded in 4th position (85 laps done) while Nozane put himself into 15th (78 laps completed).
As the pre-season is officially over, it’s time for the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team to move on into the first round of the 2022 season of FIM Superbike World Championship. That will take place at MotorLand Aragòn once again from 8th to 10th April with three races during the weekend and many more activities expected to be held at the Teruel venue.
DWO Supported Test Day1 + Day2
P1 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) 1'48’’714
P2 – Toprak Razgatlıoğlu (Yamaha) +0.354
P3 – Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) +0.380
P4 – Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +0.521
P5 – Loris Baz (BMW) +0.669
P15 – Kohta Nozane (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +1.806
Garrett Gerloff: “Overall it wasn’t too bad. On Day 2, we fixed some things that I was complaining on the first day and the temperature went higher. That’s important as for the weekend weather conditions should be warmer. We did use the SCQ tyre as well, it felt good. Sometimes it’s difficult for me to make a one-shot lap, so I need to work on this area. Anyway, finally the pre-season is over and it’s time to focus on the first round of the year. I’ll enjoy two days of rest before being fully focused on the race weekend, but I cannot wait to bounce back on track for the first free practice of the season.”
Kohta Nozane: "Having the last DWO Supported Test was important as we're gearing up for the upcoming season. On the first day I improved my performance each session and managed to finish 8th, while on the second one we tried to keep that feeling but we had to make some work on race pace as well. That's why we did a long run and settled up things on that aspect. We have a good base and I can start from Friday to prepare in the best way possible for the first round of the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship. Now we'll have two days to rest a little bit and then it will be time to switch into racing mode. I cannot wait for this new beginning!"
