Garrett Gerloff: From "mysterious" rookie to Kawasaki symbol in WorldSBK

During the Czech Round of the Superbike World Championship in Most, Palmen in Motorradsport had the opportunity to interview for the second time Garrett Gerloff.

The first time it happened was at 2020 Motor Bike Expo, when Gerloff had just joined the GRT Yamaha team and entered the WorldSBK paddock. And, since then, man things have changed. The Texan rider went through important highs and heavy lows, changed teams and manufacturers and is now in the position of being the only rider in green on the field, since he joined Manuel Puccetti’s Kawasaki WorldSBK Team from 2025. The fil rouge connecting all these years is one: Gerloff has proved many times that he can be a World Championship rider, and fight for valuable results.

Palmen in Motorradsport decided to interview Garrett Gerloff to talk about all this: the 2026 season, the challenges of being the only rider on a Kawasaki, and the past few years.

Garrett, how did the 2026 campaign begin for you?

Since we started this year it has been a little bit up and down, but I think the biggest part for that is that I'm working with a new crew chief this year. I know him from the past, but he's new to the Kawasaki this year. Moreover, during winter we also didn't have any dry testing really, apart from half day maybe, so every race we go to we're kind of starting from zero. There have been races where the start of the weekend maybe was not so good, but finally on Sunday we figured it out and we saved the weekend. The only exception to that was in Assen, where he had a horrible weekend: we tried to find a solution to the problems that we were having, but we just couldn't find it.

But then, at Balaton Park we had a really good weekend, as we reached the top 10 in the Superpole Race and the top 5 in Race 2, and especially in Most, where we were consistently in the top 5. These are the best results that we've done this year and the best that I've done over the last two years, so I think the trajectory is up, so I'm hoping that we continue that upward trajectory and we can get closer to the win.

So your expectation for this year, in general, is to keep growing and get closer to being in a winning position.

Yes. I mean, if the number next to my position is a single digit, so in the top 9, I'll be happy. But for sure the closer we are to the top five, the better and that's more of where we really want to be. But it's not an easy championship at the moment, because there's a lot of fast riders and fast bikes, and it’s difficult to stand out being the only Kawasaki on the grid. Apart from trying to be fast, we are constantly trying to understand if there's more that we can get from the bike or if we're at the maximum, and it’s not easy to have so much to manage.

In the past, with GRT Yamaha and Bonovo BMW teams, you were part of independent teams and had team-mates. Now you are in a factory team and you are the sole rider with this bike. How does it feel to be in position?

You feel a bit more pressure, because you're the only guy that has the opportunity to make the bike better or worse.

It was really nice to be at Yamaha or BMW and have really strong riders to compare to, like Michael Van der Mark and Toprak Razgatlioglu and then Scott Redding and Loris Baz. Back then, I could see their data and really compare it to myself one-to-one, and see what they were doing better. Now, the best that I can do now is that I have a friend of mine, Taylor Mackenzie, who's doing videos for me and so I can compare the video that I see from myself to other riders, but not having data sharing definitely makes it more difficult to know things that we really need to know, like suspension, corner speed, gear position and rpm.

Still I am thankful for the opportunity that Kawasaki has given me to be here and trying to move forward together with them.

Would you like to have a teammate again?

I would love that, also because if I had a teammate it would be easy to understand, when I have a tough weekend, if the problem is in me or it’s just the maximum we can get from the package in that moment. In the current situation, it’s hard to understand that and it just makes me think too much about what I'm doing and what is going wrong, if it’s me or the bike. It’s not good to have this thought in a rider's head.

Because you focus more on thinking of what's going on, than on actually pushing on track.

Exactly. I'm always trying to like get the best from me and the package, but if I feel like I'm at my maximum, then I don't know if it's just me as a rider that's not fast enough or if the bike is holding me back. To have a teammate would make it much clearer.

Looking back at the past seasons, what were the best and worst moments you lived from 2020 until 2024?

On the BMW, the best moments were the pole position we scored (…, ed). It was amazing to be the fastest with everybody healthy on the grid, including the title contenders, and on the dry. The podiums I had in Magny-Cours and Aragon on the BMW were really nice as well, because the Bonovo team had never had a podium and it was cool to give them that for the first time.

On the Yamaha, it was my first ever WorldSBK podium in Barcelona, back in 2020: I didn't know if I could be good enough as a rider to get there, and it was amazing to make it and to do it in my rookie season and with an independent team. It was a really relieving. However, in 2021 I had a horrible season, including some incidents where I crashed into other riders (including Toprak Razgatlioglu, then in Crescent Yamaha, in Assen, ed). That was the lowest point for me.

What happened on your mind, when in 2021 you could not meet the expectations and those things happened?

It was tough. I had a lot of shit from everybody online, which was not easy to deal with, and it was no good having to deal with just all of the backlash. Even the championship told me that if I had more problems, there could be even bigger consequences. So there was a lot happening on my mind. However, I still wanted to race, I still wanted to be better and I still wanted to fight for my dreams. I just took some time to let the water settle and to let those things become the past and not the present, for me and for everybody. Finally, that time came to an end.

But was there ever a moment, in the past years, where you saw yourself out of the Superbike World Championship?

Yes, it was in 2022, when I thought that maybe I wasn't going to have an opportunity to stay. Then BMW and Bonovo came and I was super thankful that they wanted me to race for them for next two years. I saw it as a really big gesture, and with Bonovo I had amazing years and made some really good friends. If it wasn’t for the experience on the BMW, I wouldn't be here with Kawasaki now.

During those seasons with Yamaha and BMW, you also had the chance to race in MotoGP, at the 2021 Dutch GP. What are your memories from that experience?

I remember the bike being really difficult to ride. I had never been to Assen before and also I was riding the 2019 bike, and it was very unstable compared to the 2021 bike the other Yamaha riders were using. I struggled a lot, but I got closer and closer and I was finally one second from the fastest, so I was happy for my first weekend at a track I had never been to and on a bike I had never raced before. I didn't get any points, but I could beat Luca Marini and overall it was a nice opportunity.

Looking now at the future, would you like to build the rest of your career in the WorldSBK paddock, or you still keep a small door open towards MotoGP?

I'm in a different place in my life now, compared to 2021, and I don't think MotoGP will ever happen for me. My focus is to do the best that I can in World Superbike and see what happens. If there's an opportunity in MotoGP, I will take it into consideration but, being realistic, that will never happen. Anyway I'm happy to be here.

What's your ultimate goal for your career?

I'd love to win a race at this point, but it will be really difficult, especially now with Nicolò Bulega, Iker Lecuona and everybody going so fast on the Ducati machines and other strong riders on other bikes. But if I could win one race, then it would be so nice. For sure I'd love to win a world championship, but I need to start one small step at a time.

In conclusion, the “Thank You Moment”: would you like to thank anyone in particular for what you experienced in the past years, and what you're gonna experience in the next seasons?

I have to just give a huge thanks to all the teams that I've raced for. GRT Yamaha are the ones that took the first chance, because I had no experience at all in Europe with any team, but they decided to take one chance with an American rider. Without GRT, I wouldn’t be here at all, and the people in the team are just amazing and gave me a lot of support. Same thing with Bonovo, an amazing team that took a chance on me despite coming from a tough 2022 season. I also thank Kawasaki. It’s nice that I can continue to have a career in World Superbike with people that appreciate me and the potential that I have, even if I haven't been able to show my potential consistently. We can do great things together, for sure.

Palmen in Motorradsport is grateful to Garrett Gerloff for his time and to the Kawasaki WorldSBK Team for making the interview possible. Best wishes to both the rider and the team for the next races and seasons.