It’s On For Gerloff As Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha Rider Will Return To Racing At New Jersey Cypress, CA August 10, 2012 Garrett Gerloff, who recently turned 17 years old, received the best birthday present that any racer could get. He’s been approved to return to racing his Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha YZF-R6 in GEICO AMA Pro Road Racing competition, beginning at the next round scheduled for the weekend of September 7-9 at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ. The announcement was made by Keith McCarty, Motorsports Racing Division Manager for Yamaha. However, rather than returning to racing in the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike series, Garrett will compete in the AMA Pro Motorcycle-SuperStore.com SuperSport series at NJMP aboard his #96 Yamaha YZF-R6, as well as at the other two remaining rounds on the 2012 AMA Pro Racing schedule–Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, FL, on September 21-23, and NOLA Motorsports Park, in New Orleans, LA, on October 7-9. In a classic case of déjà vu, Garrett will make his return to racing at the same exact track where his AMA Pro Racing career started a year ago next month. Shortly after turning 16, Garrett made his professional racing debut at NJMP last September, and quite a debut, it was. Garrett earned the provisional pole in Friday’s first qualifying season, then he won his first-ever professional race the very next day in Saturday’s SuperSport race, and in Sunday’s race, he finished a close second. Garrett moved up to Daytona SportBike at the beginning of this season, but he fractured the femur in his right leg during the first practice session for the Daytona 200 in March, and he has been rehabbing the injury and training hard for his comeback. “In July, Garrett was cleared by his doctors to return to racing, so he is fully fit and ready to go,” McCarty said. “He’s attended a few track days to knock off the rust, and he’s also attended every AMA Pro Racing round this year as a member of our Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha team. We’ve loved having him with us in the paddock, but we’re definitely going to love seeing him back on track aboard that beautiful blue, white, and orange R6. And we’re equally excited to have him represent Yamaha and our team in the highly competitive SuperSport class. There are some awesome, young riders in that class who will put Garrett to the test.” Of course, no one is more excited about the great news than Garrett himself, “The waiting has been almost as difficult as the fracture itself, Garrett said. “The bone went back together like a puzzle piece, and I’ve been so anxious to get back to racing. I’ve been to a couple of track days, which has been great, but September can’t come soon enough. I really like New Jersey Motorsports Park, and I did well there last year, so I’m looking forward to it.” When asked if he could believe that it’s been an entire year since his AMA Pro debut at NJMP last September, Garrett said, “Oh yeah, I believe it. I’ve lived it, and I’ve been counting down the days like it’s Christmas.” Follow the Yamaha U.S. Road Racing Teams on Facebook for more news, information, and other announcements.