Rennie Scaysbrook | April 3, 2017
Garrett Gerloff opens up on his Superbike plans, speaking Spanish and eating donuts
Garrett Gerloff realized a dream last year when he took an AMA #1 plate for MotoAmerica Supersport with him back to the Lone Star State. The clean-cut Texan fought tooth and nail with Monster Energy/Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha teammate JD Beach, sealing the title in the final race of the season at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
For 2017, Gerloff will sport the champion’s number in his title defense. He’s got a new bike in the 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6 and burning ambition to step up to the big time on a superbike, be it in the U.S. or in Europe.
We caught up with the likable lad at the recent 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6 press intro at Thunderhill Raceway in Northern California.
CN: What have you been doing with yourself since winning the title?
GG: It’s like five months, so we got some time. I just tried to enjoy my family and the holidays. Right after the season I was just eating whatever I wanted and not doing anything. Riding a little bit, but just totally relaxing. After Christmas and New Year’s I started getting back into gear and getting ready for the season. Everything’s been going really good. I’ve been training with my trainer who works with the Texans a little bit and stuff, Chase Banks. He’s been doing a really good job with me, getting me fit. Super great guy. He’s got a plan for me, fitness and diet and all that stuff, so I’ve just been following that and just trying to be on a motorcycle as much as I can, whether it’s flat track or motocross or testing. We’ve been riding a lot, so that’s been really good. I’ve been doing some extracurricular activities, too. I’ve been trying to learn Spanish.
That could work out good for your future.
That’s the motivation behind it. MotoGP for one is run by a Spanish company. A lot of the big sponsors over there are either Spanish or Italian, and those languages are similar. So just to be able to understand that more is a big commodity for me. That’s where I want to be one day, so I’m trying to do everything I can to get where I want to go.
How often are you doing it?
Every day. I got some audio book stuff that’s interactive that I do. I’ve also got a Spanish teacher, Margarita. She’s back home. It’s super fun. I like it a lot. It kind of gets me all excited to keep pushing for where I want to be.
You were talking before about how you’ve been in the gym a lot. What sort of stuff do you do in the gym?
For me, I gain weight really fast so if I ever did anything with actual weights, whether it’s a five-pound weight, 10-pound weight, I just gain muscle. So for me it’s mainly just bodyweight stuff or a cardio-based thing. It’s hard to explain because every time I go in there he’s got something new for me to do. I haven’t done the same thing twice in a long time.
Kind of like aerobics or cross-fit type stuff?
Yeah, except I’m not flipping tires and stuff like that because that’s going to make me gain weight. That’s always been hard for me. I’m not the tallest guy but I’m taller than a lot of the guys in my class at least. Then with height comes weight. I’ve always tried really hard to be a light guy, but it’s not always easy. That’s why I’ve got the diet, which I try my best to stick to.
What sort of stuff has your trainer got you as far as diet? Do you have a bunch of different things or do you sort of stick to certain food groups?
He’s got a bunch of tests that we do and pretty much if I just sat on a couch all day and just breathed, I would burn 2,300 calories a day. So that’s how many calories I burn doing nothing, and then we base what I eat around that many calories. Then what I do eat is not a whole lot of carbs, because carbs just turn into fat if you don’t use them right away. So I eat a lot of vegetables and some meats. Not too crazy. Just vegetables, meats, simple carbs sometimes like sweet potatoes, just some good sources of carbs like that. Mainly sweet potatoes. And then when I’m training a lot then a little bit more sweet potatoes. I try to stay away from grains and gluten.
What do you have for breakfast?
Just a couple eggs. I scramble them with the yolk and then some avocado and some salsa.
No toast?
No toast, nothing like that. Honestly, I don’t crave it too bad. If it’s not around me I don’t necessarily want it, so that’s kind of easy. When I travel and there’s chips and cookies and stuff, I break down. I’ve got to have a little bit.
I remember when you came into the press room five minutes after you won the championship and you took all the donuts!
Yeah, exactly! I’m pretty strict, especially when it comes to during the season. I don’t like to mess around too much. Then it just kind of compounds. I gotta to do what I gotta to do to be competitive.
Looking towards this season, you’re going to run the number one plate?
Yeah. I’m excited. I’ve been wanting to do that since I signed with them, even before that. Since they’ve kept me around so long, the Yamaha Graves team, it’s always good to have a number one on the bike just to let everybody know that this bike’s the best and the guy on the bike did a good job, too.
For me, when I see a number one on my bike, I know in my heart I’m still #31 so it doesn’t bother me too much. But when I see the number one it relaxes me, honestly. I’m like, you know what? I’ve already done it. I won it. I finally did it. Just go try to do it again. It just takes pressure off me, for now.
How do you find the big difference between this new bike and your old bike? What’s the big stand-outs for you?
The big stand-out for me, especially from my old race bike to my new race bike, we’ve been doing a lot of testing with both—front-end feel and wind protection. Those are the two biggest things that stand out right away.
The old bike had a really good front end, and I ride on the front. I like to really dive into the corner deep but carry my speed and really ride that front tire. With the old bike I never had any problems with it. It felt great. Then I got on the new bike and I was like, ‘wow, now the old bike’s starting to look old’!
When I get on the front straightaway with the new tank and with the new aero, I was able to get right behind the windscreen and get my arms tucked in really well. At Buttonwillow there’s only a little front straightaway. From the year before to when we went there with the new bike, with the same engine, we had already gained 2.5mph. It’s probably a third of the size of the CoTA straightaway. So, with that sort of a straightaway and that kind of increase in speed, with the same corner exit speed, that’s going to compound over the longer straightaways and that’s going to be huge for us. Especially drafting and then when we’re in the front, too.
Was there any thought of going up to the Superstock 1000 or Superbike class for 2017?
In my heart I was like, ‘man, I want to ride Superbike’. I want to keep moving forward.
I rode the bike in 2015 at New Jersey. Cameron (Beaubier) won the championship and it was like 60th anniversary for Yamaha and they gave everyone a ride on the superbike. JD Beach and I got a chance to ride it and it felt so, so good. Like I said, I’m a bigger rider and the bike fit me really well. The power felt really good. I was right at home on it within the five laps that I did. I was able to do a decent time, too. That really got me fired up.
I’ve been riding 600 for seven years now— it’s a long time. Not that I’m not grateful for that or anything. I’m super happy that my team gave me the opportunity to keep riding for them. But I want to keep moving forward. I feel like a superbike is a forward step. I’ve just got to wait for spots to open up, I guess. But it’s definitely a goal of mine.
You were saying you’re learning Spanish and European languages. Is that where you want to head off to?
Yeah, I’d like to. It’s a big dream of mine. I love change and experiencing new stuff. To be able to race in a world championship and to have the opportunity to live over there, and experience a new culture new people, that just gets me all excited. It’s cool getting to experience new stuff. That’s something that really drives me.
Is a WorldSBK or WorldSSP wildcard a possibility this year?
No. It’s just complicated. There’s different team sponsors. It’d be cool to ride the new R6 over there in World Supersport. But if their guys are all healthy, then they don’t have a reason to put me on the bike. Our schedules kind of don’t mesh super good. When we’re racing, they’re racing too, for the most part. That would be cool, though.
Would you look at maybe going over to somewhere like England for BSB?
That would be cool. I’d like to stay with Yamaha for one, no matter where I go. Yamaha’s been great. They’ve got the best bikes and the most innovation lately. So I’d really like to stay with them no matter what.
Looking to this MotoAmerica season, are there any particular tracks you think are going to be yours for the taking?
I don’t know. Honestly the first three tracks that we go to—CoTA, Road Atlanta and VIR—those are really good tracks for me. Road Atlanta and VIR, they’ve been tracks that I’ve been going to since I was twelve years old. I’ve got a ton of experience at both of them and I love the layouts. They really mesh with my style. Then CoTA’s a new one for me, but it’s my home track and I just get good vibes there with my family and friends. The track’s super fun. Being there with the world championship, it’s just a ton of energy and I just love being there.
Aside from motorbikes, what else do you do? What else are you interested in?
I’m really interested in physical fitness. That kind of goes along with the racing stuff and something I’ve had to be really involved in since I started racing. But on the side I really enjoy cycling and I’ve done a couple mountain bike races and just regular road cycling races. Those are super fun. I just like pushing myself, whether it’s getting lap times down or pushing my body to see how fast I can go or whatever on a bicycle. I just like pushing myself. Anything that I can do that in, it doesn’t matter. I like doing that stuff.
I also like photography. Photography is super fun, trying to get a picture that captures different emotions. I like taking pictures at the motocross track, then I go back home and I’m looking at the photos, seeing how they’re riding and stuff and trying to emulate them.
The Spanish thing was just a random thing that I started doing and I really like it. I watch a lot of Spanish speaking TV shows. I don’t really know what they’re saying all the time, but you figure it out just based on what’s going on, what they’re doing. The more I hear things, the more I learn. I’m putting it together.