VOL. 54 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 19, 2017 P181
rest of my life. I needed to do
something. Sometimes you just
need to get your head on straight
and realize what you want,
where you want to go, and get
your goals together. That's what
happened halfway through the
year. I kicked myself in the ass
and was like, 'I got this. I can do
this. I believe in myself.' I knew
where I wanted to be one day, so
race one and Barber Motorsport
Park's race one, Gerloff never
lost a race by less than three
seconds—including a crushing
19.1-second victory in race one
at Pittsburg. It was seven straight
wins until we saw a second title
sealed with a third place in race
one at Barber, but not before
a brain fade saw him run off
track on lap one at the downhill
a new mindset heading into round
seven at Sonoma.
"From there I just felt like, 'I'm
not losing this thing.' The be-
ginning of the year I wanted to
defend my championship—I knew
I wanted to ride the superbike—but
I didn't really have a complete
direction. After the first three or
four rounds, I think Road America,
I was really focusing on what I
had to do. I've been a 600 guy for
forever. I don't want this to be the
I had to prove it to myself. At the
same time, the bike was work-
ing great. The team and I were
working really well together, we
had a lot of positive energy, so
it was a combination of a lot of
things. And the new tire. I liked
that tire a lot."
From Laguna Seca onward,
everyone else was fighting for
second place. A look at his
winning times confirms Gerloff's
domination. Between Sonoma's
(Above) Race one at Pittsburg,
and that's all they saw of
Gerloff—when they could
see him at all. (Left) Just as
he did in 2016, after winning
the championship, he went
straight for the donuts.
(Right) The Laguna Seca round
showed just how superior the
Graves team and its riders
were in 2017.
