[WSBK] Best result of the season for Loris Baz in Portugal [CP]

The BMW driver took sixth place when he took the checkered flag in the first race in Portimão. 

After narrowly missing Superpole 2 on the evening of the opening day of the tenth event of the season in Portugal, Loris Baz was forced to take a detour to the repechage session on Saturday morning. The Frenchman was quick from the start and managed to secure second place. A sufficient performance allowing him to join Superpole 2 during which he set the eighth time.

Positioned on the third row of the grid, the Haut-Savoyard, author of a good start, was ninth on the first pass. The representative of the Althea BMW Racing team then got rid of Toprak Razgatlioglu before setting off in pursuit of Jordi Torres. Taking advantage of Lorenzo Savadori's fall to gain a place, Loris Baz waited until the last three laps to gain the upper hand over his Spanish rival and conclude the event in sixth place in the hierarchy.

With this best result since its return to WorldSBK, the Tricolore, who will start from the first row on the grid on Sunday, now occupies tenth position in the provisional ranking, 12 lengths behind Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Loris Baz (Race 1 – 6th): “We knew that the pace was not bad and that there was a way to get a good result. I had a good start, I lost a few places, but with the confusion that there was in the first lap, I managed to make up for it. I quickly forced myself to overtake Toprak after noticing that Jordi was starting to dig away. I got back in his wake and quickly noticed that he was putting a lot of strain on his rear tire. So I was patient, because I knew I had a card to play at the end of the race. I finally managed to pass it and sign my best result of the year. After more than two months of break and taking into account the fact that we did not test on this track during the summer, I am really delighted! I will start from third place tomorrow. It will be difficult to have a faster pace than today, but we will still try to make some adjustments to the bike, particularly regarding the anti-wheelie. We will have to take advantage of this first line to stay at the forefront. Trying to grab a place in the Top 5 would be really great! »