The 4.592km-long Portimao circuit was the final test venue in Europe before all involved in the new-look WorldSBK squad head to Australia for the first round of the new season in late February.
Damp patches and winds on day one were not helpful to Gerloff or anyone else at a test that featured almost all of his 2025 WorldSBK rivals, plus some WorldSSP riders.
For the second track outing in succession a change of weather for the final day of action prevented Gerloff from setting laps on 29 January. He and his team had already gathered some vital information during the first day at Portimao, which saw Garrett end up sixth fastest overall. The American rider’s best day one lap time was 1’41.164, which placed him just over half a second from the fastest rider.
With the European element of pre-season testing now complete the next track outing for Gerloff and the Kawasaki WorldSBK Team will be at Phillip Island in Australia, during the official DWO pre-season tests on 17 and 18 February. A few days later the 2025 FIM Superbike World Championship will kick-off, at the same venue, between 21-23 February.
Garrett Gerloff, stated: “It was a positive test at Portimao. Although the conditions were not perfect we still had a good test and we were able to confirm some things, which is nice. I think, in general, we have a good base to take to Australia and I hope we can have a positive test there before race weekend. I am really happy with the bike, the team and I cannot wait to keep going in Australia.”
Manuel Puccetti, Team Principal, stated: “Even though we were only able to ride for two days between Jerez and Portimao, we are very happy with how our tests went. Gerloff was able to ride many laps and was always very fast, confirming the validity of the work done by our technicians who found excellent set-ups for our Ninja ZX-10RR. We are ready for the Phillip Island tests and the first round in Australia - but not before having presented our team in Reggio Emilia and then in Japan.”
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