Baz finds his groove to lead Yamaha effort at Donington

Loris Baz earned himself an earlier-than-anticipated ‘promotion’ to the status of top Yamaha rider at Donington Park after picking up a 4-5-6 brace of results in only the third round back in action for both himself and Ten Kate Racing.

Following his run to fourth place in the wet at Misano, Baz was once again in fine form in the rain of race one at Donington Park, battling for the podium with Leon Haslam before settling for an equal season’s best finish.

Significantly, however, Baz proved sustain similar levels of performance in the dry for the first time this year, the Frenchman finishing as top Yamaha again with fifth in the Superpole Race before completing his weekend with another solid run to sixth in race two.

Also the strongest result for Ten Kate Racing as a team since Chang 2018 when Leon Camier finished fourth in Thailand, Baz was delighted to give the Dutch team a trio of front-running results just three rounds into its new Yamaha endeavour.

“The sprint race went very well, we were close to the group and I think I had the weapons to carry an attack on Álvaro Bautista in the last laps. I finished in fifth place, which allowed me to start from the second row in the afternoon."

"I felt comfortable during Race 2, I understand the bike more and more. Everything becomes much more natural and I can anticipate every reaction of the machine. I spent most of the race ahead of Alex Lowes, trying to close the gap on Leon Haslam and Bautista.

“Lowes then passed me and I started to meet some difficulties. I then adjusted my lines to stay in touch. It was not enough, but I finished a stone's throw from the podium and seven seconds from victory."