LorisBaz

Loris Baz returns to the Bonovo Action BMW for a second season in 2022 after joining the team last year, and he will have a new teammate with Garrett Gerloff joining the team. Baz re-joined WorldSBK midway through 2019 and then had a full 2020 campaign with the Ten Kate Racing Yamaha squad. He missed out on a seat in 2021 but two impressive replacement riders at Team GoEleven meant he was an option in 2022 and the Bonovo BMW team duly picked him up.

Born in Sallanches, France, the tall rider first stepped onto the scene in 2008 in the European Superstock 600 Class. Stunning the field to take the title that same year with eight podiums and three wins – aged just 15 – he then moved up to STK1000 for 2009.

Making the move up to WorldSBK halfway through 2012 with Kawasaki, it took him the rest of the season to adapt to the ZX-10R before certifying himself as a frontrunner in 2013. Locked in some stunning battles throughout the field, he took 14 podium finishes and two victories over nearly three years with Kawasaki, ending 2014 fifth in the championship. Making the step over to MotoGP™ in 2015, the Frenchman spent three years battling for top-ten results, first with Yamaha and then Ducati.

Baz was back in 2018 with the GULF Althea BMW Team, yet with the package lacking pace the 26-year-old was not able to replicate his results on the Kawasaki. After the partnership split at the end of the year Baz was temporarily left without a ride. That changed in June, as he and Ten Kate Racing joined forces with Yamaha for the rest of the year, making an instant impact in the series. Baz finished the year 10th in the standings, an incredible result for a team that only arrived in Round 6.

He and the team remained together in 2020 and the Frenchman took four podiums on his way to eighth in the standings, finishing second in the Independent Championship. Baz was unable to secure a full-time seat for 2021 and switched to MotoAmerica but was drafted in to replace the injured Chaz Davies at Team GoEleven at Jerez and Portimao; taking two podiums at Portimao which helped secure him a seat at Bonovo BMW for 2022. This season will be his second with the team, something of a rarity for Baz in his career, and he will be hoping that stability helps him to challenge for podiums.