Loris Baz has not been successful at the start of the WSBK season and, in this sense, he is in line with the fate of his employer BMW who proved far from the mark with his four M1000RRs. After the rounds at Phillip Island and Indonesia, the Bavarian brand only collected 29 points despite four talented drivers, two of whom unfortunately already have broken bones. Meanwhile, Honda, with half the workforce, has 51. As for the opponents, they remain unattainable despite the fact, and the French driver underlines it, that the German sports car is faster than in 2022.
The new M1000RR that BMW is lining up this season in World Superbike a failure? Given his rankings since the start of the competition in the category reserved for motorcycles from the series, one might believe so. The harsh comments which go as far as the violent reaction of spite on the part of Scott Redding, who hit his motorbike with his fist in Mandalika, would even affirm the idea.
More Loris Baz, who is recovering from Indonesia a broken ankle and leg in combat in the rough WSBK platoon, gives a completely different version of the Munich reality: “ It's super easy to look like an idiot from the outside. But we are faster than last year » explains the pilot of 30 years on speedweek. " The level is higher » he specifies, adding: “ I can feel the improvement and we have taken a step forward. It wasn't a big step yet, but the winter was very short ».
Loris Baz: “vous voyez avec Kawasaki que nous ne sommes pas les seuls à avoir des problèmes"
He adds : " everyone at BMW and the team works very hard and no one has given up. You see with Kawasaki that we are not the only ones having problems because Yamaha and Ducati have raised the bar very high, mainly Ducati. It's good for the championship because there are faster bikes than last year and it's so close ».
Things put back in their place, Loris Baz do not deny, however, that all is not rosy at BMW : " Phillip Island was really difficult. Apart from Michael van der Mark, who drove very well and had a little more than us, no BMW was faster than the other, and with three completely different settings ».
Hence this observation: “ in Australia, we were very far away and we didn't know where we could improve. Sunday in Indonesia I was in the top six until the two incidents, and it's a place I haven't been since the first half of last year ". And he ends: “ It's tough, but we only did two rounds. I firmly believe in the project and we will definitely achieve it ". It will be recalled that the boss of his Bonovo team also revealed its concerns about this campaign, even asking BMW for a meeting to take stock.
