Frenchman Loris Baz dedicated his success to Joan Lascorz as he braved it out against more experienced opposition to win in only his sixth World Superbike outing at the tenth round of 14 in the WSBK Championships at Silverstone at the weekend.

Less than a month after stunning both himself and the WSBK paddock by claiming a maiden World Superbike podium in only his fifth event, Kawasaki-mounted Baz has elevated his status from a rising star to a shining one by claiming a remarkable maiden win in awful conditions at Silverstone.

Meanwhile Italy’s Max Biaggi (Aprilia) – who failed to finish race one and scored only 11th in race two – continues to lead the championship, 10 points clear of Italy’s Marco Melandri (BMW). Melandri finished 7-8 at Silverstone.

The story of Baz’s rise to glory is an incredible one.

The 19-year-old was initially only handed a two-race contract back in May as a substitute for the injured Joan Lascorz, but Baz made enough of an impression in four races to secure a contract to the end of the season.

Since then, Baz has gone from strength-to-strength, finishing a remarkable third at Brno from 15th on the grid, but it is at Silverstone where the Frenchman has truly shone through the gloom.

Shrugging off a crash in Superpole that left him ninth on the grid, Baz quickly lifted himself into contention during the drier stages of race one, battling bar-to-bar with more experienced rivals to run as high as second. However, his confidence would pique when rain arrived, Baz making gains as the riders tip-toed through the final five laps with their slick tyres.

With victory destined to go the way of the bravest rider, few expected it to be the inexperienced Baz to emerge top, but the Kawasaki rider would do it in style as he scythed past his rivals on the Hangar Straight and cling on to cross the finish line first.

Dedicating the win to his predecessor Lascorz, who was left paralysed in an accident during testing earlier this season, Baz was thrilled to become the second-youngest race winner in World Superbikes.

“It is really special to win and to win in England because I raced here in BSB last year for a while,” he said. “I would also like to thank Kawasaki for believing in me. We made no mistakes in race one and finished up front. I think in the dry we are also really fast and we can fight for the first five or seven places. I chose the slick tyre because it was the best choice in race one.

“The conditions in race one were crazy for a while and early on I was missing some grip but when I saw the rains coming I pushed hard even though it was quite wet but I stayed on the bike and I am really happy, as you can imagine, for this victory. I want to thank all the team and we are also thinking of Joan Lascorz, because this victory is for him now.”

Furthermore, Baz almost proceeded to double up in race two as he forged his way up the order in the wet conditions. Even taking the lead from Sylvain Guintoli, though he followed that up with a crash at Becketts, the subsequent red flag would see him awarded second place nonetheless.

“As for race two it was amazing to be here inside the top three again. The start of race two was not so wet so I just tried to keep my tyres, and then it started to move back up to Kuba and Sylvain, passed them both before falling.

“I think it was the right decision to take the race results back to lap eight because there was a lot of fuel on the track for two laps, and a lot of water. I am really happy and thanks to all my crew and Kawasaki again.”

Baz’s victory means Kawasaki is the only team to have had both of its riders win a race this season.

Results from round 10 of the 2012 World Superbike Championship at Silverstone, United Kingdom:

RACE ONE:

1. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 40m 46.128s
2. Michel Fabrizio ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +0.383
3. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +0.459s
4. Jonathan Rea GBR Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +0.539s
5. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R +1.012s
6. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +2.619s
7. Marco Melandri ITA BMW Motorrad S1000RR +6.123s
8. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +9.170s
9. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Ducati 1098R +19.022s
10. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +19.087s
11. Maxime Berger FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +29.840s
12. Lorenzo Zanetti ITA PATA Ducati 1098R +30.158s
13. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +44.222s
14. Chaz Davies GBR ParkinGO MTC Aprilia RSV-4 +1m 20.387s
15. David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 42.698s

16. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Ducati 1098R +1 lap
17. Jakub Smrz CZE Liberty Effenbert Ducati 1098R +1 lap

Not Classified

18. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 17 laps completed
19. Leon Camier GBR Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 14 laps completed
20. Niccolo Canepa ITA Red Devils Ducati 1098R 14 laps completed
21. John Hopkins USA Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 10 laps completed

Did Not Start

Brett McCormick CAN Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R
Norino Brignola ITA Grillini Progea BMW S1000RR
David Johnson AUS Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R

Fastest lap
Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia GoldBet S1000RR 2m 06.764s

 

RACE TWO:

1. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Ducati 1098R 19m 42.051s
2. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +0.881s
3. Jakub Smrz CZE Liberty Effenbert Ducati 1098R +1.671
4. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +19.045s
5. Maxime Berger FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +22.116s
6. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R +23.736s
7. Chaz Davies GBR ParkinGO MTC Aprilia RSV-4 +24.690s
8. Marco Melandri ITA BMW Motorrad S1000RR +26.197s
9. Jonathan Rea GBR Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +26.861s
10. John Hopkins USA Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +27.194s
11. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +29.243s
12. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +30.328s
13. Michel Fabrizio ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +32.746s
14. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +34.905s
15. Niccolo Canepa ITA Red Devils Ducati 1098R +35.849s
16. Lorenzo Zanetti ITA PATA Ducati 1098R +40.091s
17. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +58.530s

Not Classified

18. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR 7 laps completed
19. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Ducati 1098R 6 laps completed
20. Leon Camier GBR Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 3 laps completed
21. David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1 lap completed

Did Not Start

Brett McCormick CAN Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R
Norino Brignola ITA Grillini Progea BMW S1000RR
David Johnson AUS Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R

Fastest lap
Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 2m 24.324s

 

World Championship standings after 10 of 14 rounds:

1 Max Biaggi Aprilia Racing 274

2 Marco Melandri BMW Motorrad 264

3 Tom Sykes Kawasaki Racing 223

4 Carlos Checa Althea Ducati 221

5 Jonathan Rea Honda WSBK 204

6 Leon Haslam BMW Motorrad 170

7 Eugene Laverty Aprilia Racing 161

8 Sylvain Guintoli Effenbert Liberty Ducati/PATA Ducati 123

9 Michel Fabrizio BMW Italia GoldBet 109

10 Davide Giugliano Althea Ducati 106

11 Chaz Davies ParkinGO MTC Aprilia 100

12 Jakub Smrz Liberty Effenbert Ducati 93

13 Loris Baz Kawasaki Racin 78

14 Ayrton Badovini BMW Italia GoldBet 73

15 Maxime Berger Effenbert Liberty Ducati 67

16 Leon Camier FIXI Crescent Suzuki 66

17 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda WSBK 42

18 Lorenzo Zanetti PATA Ducati 34

19 Niccolò Canepa Red Devils Roma Ducati 34

20 Joan Lascorz Kawasaki Racing 17

= John Hopkins FIXI Crescent Suzuki 17

22 David Salom Pedercini Kawasaki 10

23 Leandro Mercado Pedercini Kawasaki 9

24 Peter Hickman FIXI Crescent Suzuki 7

= Matteo Baiocco Barni Ducati 7

26 Bryan Staring Pedercini Kawasaki 6

27 Alex PolitaRed Devils Roma Ducati 4

28 Norino Brignola Grillini Progea BMW 3

= Mark Aitchison Grillini Progea BMW 3

30 Joshua Brookes Crescent Fixi Suzuki 1

Photos courtesy Kawasaki