By Dean AdamsPETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team will welcome American Garrett Gerloff to the squad for this weekend’s DutchGP in Assen as a stand-in for the injured Franco Morbidelli.
Franco sustained an injury to his left knee yesterday and is currently undergoing medical assessment and treatment. 25 year-old Gerloff is currently a GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team rider. This will be Gerloff’s first time in Assen but he has previously ridden the Yamaha YZR-M1 when he substituted for Valentino Rossi at the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team in the European GP practice sessions at Valencia last year.
Razlan Razali, Team Principal, PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team
Everyone has had to move very quickly after the news late yesterday that Franco would not be able to race this weekend and we give our thanks to Yamaha for facilitating this. We’re very excited to welcome Garrett to the team this weekend and realise that it’s a tough task to come in at late notice but we are confident that he will be able to do a good job. We wish Franco all the best for his recovery and hope to welcome him back to the track after the summer break.
Garrett Gerloff, PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team
I’m excited for the opportunity ahead, I’m not someone who runs away from a challenge, so I’m ready to get to the track. It’ll be a new circuit for me, I like trying new tracks, it looks fun, fast and flowing, and really suits my riding style. I’m looking forward to jumping on the Yamaha M1 again and twisting the throttle. We’ll see how things go, but I feel good and would like to thank Yamaha and the team for considering me. It won’t be easy, but I’m going to give it my best shot!
