Loris Baz · Biography

Loris Serge Yvan Baz was born on 1 February 1993 in Sallanches, in the French Haute-Savoie. He began racing in 2003, aged ten, in the Catalan championship, and went on to compete in the Superbike World Championship, MotoGP, the Endurance World Championship and the American MotoAmerica series. At 1.91 metres he has long been one of the tallest riders on the grid, and he races with the number 76.

Early career and first title

His breakthrough came in 2008, when he won the European Superstock 600 Championship on an MRS-run Yamaha and became the youngest champion in the class. In 2009 and 2010 he moved up to the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, finishing eighth both years, and made wildcard appearances in British Superbike. He contested the British series with Motorpoint Yamaha in 2011, but his season ended in August when the money ran out. That same year he finished third in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Austrian YART team.

Kawasaki and the Superbike wins

In 2012 Kawasaki brought him into the Superbike World Championship to replace the injured Joan Lascorz. He made his debut at Donington Park and took his first podium at Brno, third in race one. On 5 August 2012, on a wet and changeable Silverstone track, he won race one. It was only his eleventh start in the series, and he was 19. He finished the year 13th.

In April 2013 he won the Bol d’Or endurance race with Grégory Leblanc and Jérémy Guarnoni, and in August he won again at Silverstone, this time in race two, dedicating the victory to Andrea Antonelli. A month later he crashed in warm-up at the Nürburgring, broke two vertebrae and missed the rest of the season. Kawasaki kept him on regardless. In 2014 he took his first pole at Assen and finished fifth overall with 311 points, his best Superbike championship result.

Four years in MotoGP

He stepped up to MotoGP in 2015 with Forward Racing on an Open-class Yamaha. At the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano, in shifting wet and dry conditions, he finished fourth; he ended the season runner-up in the Open class and 17th overall. In 2016 he joined Avintia Racing on a Ducati. A crash at Mugello broke his right foot and cost him several races, but at Brno he started from the back of the grid, gambled on hard tyres and came through to fourth again, ahead of team-mate Héctor Barberá. He was also fifth at Sepang and placed 20th in the standings. With Reale Avintia in 2017 his best finishes were ninth at Le Mans and tenth at Motegi. He was 18th, and the team did not renew his contract. In 2018 KTM called him up to replace Pol Espargaró at Silverstone, but the race was cancelled because of the state of the track.

Return to Superbikes

He returned to the Superbike World Championship in 2018 on the Gulf Althea BMW and finished 11th. In 2019 and 2020 he rode the Ten Kate Racing Yamaha, placing tenth and then eighth, the second of those seasons with four podiums. In 2019 he also put the YART Yamaha on pole for the Bol d’Or, and he finished runner-up with the Austrian team in the 2019-20 Endurance World Championship.

In 2022 and 2023 he raced the BMW M1000RR for Bonovo Action BMW, run by MGM Racing, finishing 12th and 16th. Across his Superbike seasons he collected two wins, 20 podiums and two poles.

Racing in the United States

Without a world championship ride, he moved to MotoAmerica Superbike in 2021 on the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R and finished fourth with 238 points. He returned for a full MotoAmerica season with Warhorse Racing in 2024, again on a Ducati. In 2025 he raced in King of the Baggers on an Indian for the factory S&S Cycle team, and that summer he finished sixth in the Suzuka 8 Hours on a BMW with AutoRace Ube Racing Team.

World Superbike return in 2026

In 2026 MGM Racing called on him to replace Tarran Mackenzie, who had been injured in a practice crash at Donington Park in July. Baz returned to the Superbike World Championship at round ten in Cremona on the team’s Ducati Panigale V4. When Mackenzie was ruled out for the year, Baz finished the 2026 season with MGM, including the Estoril and Jerez rounds.