San Juan (Argentina), Sunday 14 October 2018

The penultimate round of the 2018 Superbike World Championship has just concluded at the brand-new San Juan El Villicum circuit; for the Gulf Althea BMW Racing Team and rider Loris Baz the second race proved a tough one, the Frenchman passing beneath the chequered flag in eleventh place today.

Superbike – Race 2 – from ninth on the grid, Baz lost a little ground off the line, twelfth through the first corners.  He held that position until around the mid-race point when, having worked to catch Mercado, he was finally able to pass the Argentinian. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, a gap of around six seconds had meanwhile opened up between him and the group ahead. Baz nevertheless continued to do his best – some of his fastest times coming in the final laps – to close today’s race in eleventh place.

The penultimate championship round now concluded, Baz lies eleventh in the general standings with 127 points. The Gulf Althea BMW Racing team will be back in action over the weekend of 25-27 October, taking part in the final round at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar.

“A very tough race. I received a grid penalty after I failed to note the red flag during warm-up, and that put me back to ninth. Then the track was very slippery with very low grip, so it was hard to pass in these conditions. That meant it took me time to reach and overtake Mercado, and by then I’d lost ground to those ahead of me. I hoped for more and am disappointed as I wanted to close at least top ten. Instead, I finished with more or less the same gap to the front as yesterday. I’m just sorry for the team, as we are unable to do more with what we have…”