Garrett Gerloff finished the opening WorldSBK race of 2021 ninth, while team-mate Kohta Nozane scored hꦗi♐s first points. 

Gerloff looked on course for a top five early on as he was part of a four rider battle for third with Scott Redding, To🎀prak Razgatlioglu and Chaz Davies. 

But after applying pressure to Redding, Gerloff was quickly passed by Razgatlioglu an꧋d Davies before a late race struggle saw him eventually slide down to ninth. 

The American was happy with the session prior t✱o the race, but as the temperatures went up, Gerloff cited a loss of grip as a reason for the dip in performance.

"This morning we started off♏ really well. 𓃲We went back to our base setting and immediately had a good feeling, also thanks to the much cooler weather which really helps the R1," said Gerloff. 

"I felt good in the Superpole, and I was happy about the 🍒seꦉcond row, since I have never been particularly good at qualifying and this track has never been the best for us. 

"The bike felt great, sꦰo I was really looking forward to exploiting that in the race, but then the sun came out and the track lost some grip. 

"It was a bit difficult for me to ride consiste⭕ntly, but we think we now know what we need to change for tomorrow. It is frustrating because we know we can do more, and I don’t want to be ninth, but we will surely be stronger on Sunday."

Team-mate Nozane finished 14th in his first WorldSBK race which is the sort of position we’ve see♕ꦺn the Japanese rider for much of the weekend. 

Nozane was as high as 11th during race on𓆏e, but like Gerloff struggled to sustain his pace in the ♐final stages.

Nozane added: "In the Superpole I ach♛ieved my best lap time so far here. I tried to push for a 1’49 and wasn’t able to make it happen, but I’m still happy with my peꦚrformance in qualifying. 

"In the race, the start was really good. I managed to get up to 11th, but I cou🥂ldn’t hold on as my pace was dropping which was a bit disappointing. 

"I was able to manage the race to the finish, though, and I am very satisfied with 𒉰this. I discovered a lot of areas that I need to work on and improve. 

"The fact that there are three races is very advantageous for me, I learned seve⛎r♏al things that will help me for tomorrow."