We were able to interview Loris Baz currently in the USA, to take stock of his last two years in World SBK Superbike, its participation in the Daytona 200 (yes, yes!), and its future in MotoAmerica.
As usual, the French pilot was extremely frank in his answers, resulting in an enriching interview which sheds light on certain subjects from a new angle, all enhanced by his second Vlog available at the end of the article.
The first part is dedicated to his last two years in World Superbike and to Daytona 200, the second to his new project in MotoAmerica alongside Josh Herrin, winner of the last two editions of Daytona.
This year, return to the United States with the same team where you already did a season, Warhouse Ducati New York, in MotoAmerica Superbike. Have you already seen that the team has evolved, compared to 2021?
“Yes, because there are 3 years of experience, there is not all this discovery and the motorcycles that must arrive. The bikes were already there, the staff was made, whereas when I arrived there the first year, the staff was not made. When we look at the Vlogs (from the time), even if I couldn't say everything, we had lots of drama as they say, events that happened in 2021, with mechanics changing, who were leaving, who no longer wanted to be there. So we had to create a staff that we managed to make more reliable as the year progressed. But there, the two staffs were created, they won 2 championships in 600, and they have twice 2nd times since in Superbike. So yes, it has changed, it has evolved, it's much more structured, and these are the same people with whom I get along really well. My chief mechanic is the one with whom I finished the season as well, he's coming back, he wasn't there last year, he was there two years ago with Danilo (Petrucci). My telemetrist is the one I finished the season with, so it’s nice and you have less things to discover.”
And you don’t have the circuits to discover either…
" Yes this that's the big plus. Especially how the championships are done now, with the first races on Saturday, because that doesn't leave much time to learn the circuits, in fact. Now, you are immediately in a hurry to go fast, whereas before, when the races were only on Sunday, you still had all of Friday to concentrate on learning the circuit. It’s not really possible anymore and it’s certain that in 2021, often on Sunday I was better than on Saturday because you learn as the weekend goes on.”
What is Ducati's involvement, because we see Paolo Ciabatti present there more and more often?
“It’s a team that has official technical support so it’s the only Ducati team. This is official technical support, the bikes are very, very close to the same as in World Superbike, even have better specs than some of the World Superbikes. They are in fact very close to those that the official team has. The engines are made like many private teams by my chief mechanic, who makes a lot of Ducati engines for Superbikes, for endurance, and for many things. So there is official support, after that it remains a private team, it is a team that pays for its bikes and so on, and it remains a private team in that sense, but with official support.”
So if we look at the championship, there is still a boy called Jake Gagne, who monopolizes everything and acts like a scarecrow. What are your chances?
“Well, he’s a guy who is very strong and no one understood in 2021 that I wouldn’t beat him (laughing). But since then, there's a guy who won in MotoGP, who came and struggled to beat him, and there's Josh who finished 2nd. He is beatable, they have proven it, we can beat him, but he has total confidence with the same team for many years. So for sure, he's the man to beat this year, but it's not just him. There is also Beaubier on the BM who will go very quickly, and there is Josh, my teammate. So there you have it, for now I see these three as the three main competitors. There's also Cameron Beaubier's teammate, JD Beach, who is coming back to speed after doing a lot of flat track, so I don't know, we'll have to see. There is also Gagne's teammate, Petersen, who had a major injury last year. So there are still guys who go fast on very good bikes, but yes, the man to beat is of course Jake, who has won the last 3 titles. Before him it was Beaubier who had won 5. So there you have it, we know, in this sport when we are in spirals of confidence and little things change from one year to the next, we continue on our achievements . I know, in 2021, he does things that are impressive on a motorcycle, but he's not unbeatable. It was proven last year by Josh, and it was proven by Danilo. The team and Ducati continue to work all the time from year to year, to progress, and so the goal, for sure, is to beat him.”
Won't your main opponent be your teammate Josh Herrin, precisely because he's been there for years?
“At the start of the season, we all start with the same number of points, and for me, logically if we look at last year's championship, the three strongest men are Jake, Josh and Cameron, and I put myself in the 4. Afterwards, Cameron did not finish the season, so we will have to see. It will depend on how everyone worked during the winter, et cetera, but here we are, we start on an equal footing at the start and we will try to do the best possible. I think it's a strength for us to now be two drivers in the team, not like last year, not like in 2021 and 2022. There, I have a teammate who goes fast, who goes very fast on these American tracks, and so we can compare ourselves. Plus, he's a guy I like, and he hasn't had a teammate for a long time, so that allows you, when you get along well with your teammate, to work together. And I think that was one of Yamaha's strengths also with Jake, is that they always had a lot of Yamahas that went fast, and that allowed them to work together. SO we will be able to do that this year, and I think it will be a plus, compared to previous years. "
Last question, we understood that the motorcycles were going to be in blue this year?
"No. I can't talk too much about it, but we live in a pretty strange era...
We will be in red. "
Okay, so you had to drive 2 days to New Jersey, right? And then it was canceled because of the storm...
“Yes, we went, but it had a lot of water. It's a circuit that has just been resurfaced, so that too was good for us, because it's one of the circuits where we struggled a lot with the Ducati, because there were a lot of bumps. There, it has been resurfaced, but it has just been resurfaced, it was finished last week, so like all the slopes that have been resurfaced, it is still very slippery, and there it was raining a lot, it was 4° , and it was very windy. We left for a while with Josh to do 3 laps and we did 3 laps, we came back because it was really unrollable, whereas in the rain I love it. SO we made the wise and sad decision to return, and there, the next test is on 13/14, so the weekend before Atlanta, in Barber. »
Thank you and good season, Loris!
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