Morbidelli exacerbated a pre-existing left knee injury during a training incident on Tuesday and was banned from the Dutch TT that weekend as MotoGP returns to Assen for the first time since 2019.
SRT has appointed Yamaha World Superbike rider Gerloff for this weekend, who completed two training sessions in Valencia as Rossi’s deputy last year before the Italian was able to return to action after his two-round COVID-19 absence.
Gerloff comes to Rossi this weekend as a team-mate and admits that he has to sit in the same garage as that of the nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle world champion.
“I didn’t see Valentino today, but it’s strange to go to the pits and see his team and his bike that I rode last year on the right,” said Gerloff.
“And now I’m on the other side. It’s kind of strange, but I still hope to see him soon. “
Gerloff has no experience of Assen making his WSBK debut in 2020 when the Dutch round was removed from the calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the American thinks he knows the track well enough considering how many races he has seen on the track over the years.
“No, I haven’t seen the track yet, actually something I’ll do after I finish this meeting is walk the track,” he added.
“But I feel like I know the track because I’ve followed races from here all my life and also from the MotoGP website, they have the onboard cameras and everything and I’ve watched some of them.
“It looks like a great track, looks like it has a great flow, seems like a flowing track that I know is good for the Yamahas.
“So I’m looking forward to going out on the track tomorrow.”
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When he heard the news that he was going to replace Morbidelli, Gerloff explained: “It was definitely quick.
“I came back from Navarre [WSBK] Test and i got a message and it just happened from there.
“Yeah, so it was definitely last minute but thanks to Alpinestars and HJC for all the last minute work they did to make sure I have everything I need for Friday morning.
“Basically it was just like that, very quickly, a call a few days ago and badabing, bada boom.”
Gerloff will be the first American rider since Nicky Hayden in Australia in 2016 to start a MotoGP race due this Sunday and will make his Grand Prix debut a decade after the last US World Championship win of the year 2011 when Ben Spies – also on a Yamaha – won the Dutch TT.