The question of how Garret Gerloff’s injured left knee was doing was answered during MotoAmerica Supersport/Superstock 600 Group One Free Practice Two Friday at VIRginia International Raceway. Riding on his Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha YZF-R6, the Championship point leader was fastest in the session with a lap time of 1:27.442.
“It’s just session one. Tomorrow morning when I wake up I’ll know a little bit more,” about how the knee is doing, Gerloff said with a laugh. Gerloff suffered tears to ligaments in his left knee in a crash during wet Supersport/Superstock 600 Race Two May 1 at New Jersey Motorsports Park. “When I first went out there it was hurting pretty bad, but when I focused on riding more than how it felt I felt pretty good. I’m just trying to be consistent and get back in the groove, but I’m so happy to be back on a bike and not have to miss any time.”
In addition to being fastest, Gerloff was 0.8 second ahead of the next-best rider, his teammate JD Beach (1:28.296).
After leading the wet morning practice (which Gerloff skipped), Joe Roberts was third-quickest in the dry afternoon session with a 1:28.341 on his Wheels in Motion/Meen Yamaha YZF-R6.
M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki’s Valentin Debise continued to show that he is a quick learner of tracks as he was fourth with a time of 1:28.400 at the end of his first day ever riding at VIR.
Debise’s teammate Cameron Petersen, winner of Supersport/Superstock Race Two at New Jersey Motorsports Park, was right behind Debise with a 1:28.893.
Benny Solis, Jr. was sixth with a 1:29.621 on his Team H35 Honda CBR600RR.
Travis Wyman ended the session seventh overall and quickest among the Superstock 600 competitors with a lap of 1:29.988 on his Millennium Technologies/KWR Yamaha YZF-R6.
Superstock 600 riders Michael Gilbert (1:30.686), Jason Aguilar (1:30.896) and Xavier Zayat (1:31.298) rounded out the overall top 10 riders in the afternoon session.
Friday also marked the return of Richie Escalante, the 2015 MotoAmerica Superstock 600 Championship runner-up, who has been out of action since he broke his left knee in a crash during testing in February. Escalante, was second-fastest in Supersport/Superstock 600 Group One Free Practice Two Friday afternoon with a lap at 1:32.465 on his HB Racing/Meen Yamaha YZF-R6.
Yamaha Superbike Championship of Virginia
MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series
VIRginia International Raceway
Alton, Virginia
May 13, 2016
Provisional Supersport/Superstock 600 Free Practice Two Results (all on Dunlop tires):
Group One Results:
1. Garrett Gerloff (Yam YZF-R6), Supersport, 1:27.442
2. JD Beach (Yam YZF-R6), Supersport, 1:28.296
3. Joe Roberts (Yam YZF-R6), Supersport, 1:28.341
4. Valentin Debise (Suz GSX-R600), Supersport, 1:28.400
5. Cameron Petersen (Suz GSX-R600), Supersport, 1:28.893
6. Benny Solis, Jr. (Hon CBR600RR), Supersport, 1:29.621
7. Travis Wyman (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:29.988
8. Michael Gilbert (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:30.686
9. Jason Aguilar (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:30.896
10. Xavier Zayat (Suz GSX-R600), Superstock 600, 1:31.298
11. Andy DiBrino (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:31.812
12. Bryce Prince (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:31.938
13. Dakota Mamola (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:32.480
14. Deion Campbell (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:32.564
15. Timothy Wilson (Kaw ZX-6R), Superstock 600, 1:33.574
16. JC Camacho (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:33.677
17. Melissa Paris (Suz GSX-R600), Superstock 600, 1:34.999
18. Joseph Giannotto (Yam YZF-R6), Supersport, 1:35.238
19. Gabe Miller (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:35.540
20. Mark Rhoades (Kaw ZX-6R), Superstock 600, 1:36.220
21. Gage McAllister (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, no time recorded
22. Conner Blevins (Kaw ZX-6R), Superstock 600, no time recorded
Group Two Results (wet-to-dry conditions):
1. Nick McFadden (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:32.377
2. Richie Escalante (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:32.465
3. Christian Crosslin (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:32.971
4. Casey Tobolewski (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:35.497
5. Andrew Lee (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:35.718
6. Josh Fogle (Suz GSX-R600), Superstock 600, 1:35.938
7. Eric Telger (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:36.497
8. Anne Roberts (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:36.677
9. CJ LaRoche (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:36.835
10. Nickalus Schmitt (Tri Daytona 675), Superstock 600, 1:37.192
11. Patricia Fernandez (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:37.255
12. Jai Armstrong (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:37.755
13. Luke Luciano (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:38.784
14. Mitch Card (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:40.008
15. Shelina Moreda (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:40.389
16. Dan McCormack (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, 1:41.374
17. Nick Doolan (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, no time recorded
18. Caroline Olsen (Suz GSX-R600), Superstock 600, no time recorded
19. Jon Foy (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, no time recorded
20. Rob Woodworth (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, no time recorded