‘Incredible weekend’ ends with Baz losing third podium after Bautista incident

After securing back-to-back World Superbike podiums in race one and a wet Superpole race, Loris Baz misses out on a clean-sweep after clashing with Alvaro Bautista in race two.
Loris Baz and Alvaro Bautista, Portuguese WorldSBK race2, 3 October 2021
Loris Baz and Alvaro Bautista, Portuguese WorldSBK race2, 3 October 2021
© Gold and Goose

What could have been a podium clean-sweep for Loris Baz in just his second World Superbike appearance of 2021, has instead become a double rostrum finish after losing P3 in race two at Portimao.

Baz was sensational in claiming a race one podium after bettering Alvaro Bautista and Michael Rinaldi. 

The French rider exchanged P3 several times with Bautista, before the Spaniard crashed on the final lap. 

Baz then backed that up with an impressive wet weather performance in the shortened Superpole event to take third once again.

However, a similar race two battle with Bautista saw the pair battle hard - too hard as Baz hit the Honda rider at turn five - causing the Spaniard to crash.  

Baz finished the race in third but was later demoted one position. Speaking after a very successful second weekend deputising for an injured Chaz Davies, Baz added: "It seems like a dream, an incredible weekend! In the wet this morning I did a good job, but I think the soft choice at the rear was wrong. 

"I still managed to get on the podium though! I had a lot of fun in race two, the team did an exceptional job to try to give me a better bike than yesterday, one that took advantage of the grip much more."

Before race two got underway there was an incident with the start lights and the generator not working correctly. 

Baz was one of the riders most affected, despite eventually coming through the pack to battle for said third. 

"I lost a lot of time in the first few laps, but I didn't know what to expect after being 5 minutes on the grid without a generator," said Baz. 

"I also got a bad start, Van Der Mark's bike was smoking and I didn't want to stay in the slipstream. 

"But I knew I had a good pace, so I tried to stay calm and come back without making mistakes. 

"In the end, Alvaro and I had a good battle, I am sorry for the contact at the end, I apologize to him, but it was a tough race, I also had contact with Rinaldi many times; that's racing! 

"Thanks to Ducati, Go Eleven, everyone who allowed me to show that I have the potential to stay in this paddock!"

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