Buriram. After the season opener at Australian Phillip Island,
the Gulf Althea BMW team was in action at the second round of the
2018 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) at the
weekend. This time, the Italian team, with Loris Baz (FRA) riding,
took to the track at Chang International Circuit in Buriram. Baz
finished the two Thailand round races in 11th and
12th positions respectively.
In tropical conditions with temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius,
Baz was eighth on his BMW S 1000 RR in the first free practice. In the
following sessions, however, he failed to reach the top-ten positions.
In Superpole 1, the French rider qualified 15th on the
grid. In both races, Baz made up several places to finish
11th on Saturday and 12th on Sunday and collect
nine more world championship points. After the two events in Australia
and Thailand, the WorldSBK now begins its European season with the
next races being held on 14th and 15th April at
MotorLand Aragón near Alcañiz (ESP).
Loris Baz:
“In Superpole we had an issue with the first tyre and then on the
second I made a mistake, losing valuable tenths and missing out on
SP2. In Saturday’s race I didn’t make a great start but then was fast
through the first corners. Unfortunately though, I wasn’t able to
conserve the tyre in the opening stages, which meant I struggled
during the final part of the race. On Sunday, we tried something in
the warm-up which felt better but it didn’t work in the race. Overall,
not a good weekend for us. We need to change the way we work as we are
not improving as much as our rivals throughout the weekend.”