Gulf Althea BMW lands in Thailand

Buriram (Thailand), Tuesday 20 March 2018

The Gulf Althea BMW Racing Team and rider Loris Baz are traveling to Thailand, and the Buriram province, for round two of the 2018 Superbike World Championship. This is the fourth time that the Chang International Circuit is hosting the production-derived series, one month after the conclusion of the season-opener, at Phillip Island in Australia.

The Australian race weekend was not an easy one for the team, in that the French rider suffered a crash during Friday’s practice that left him with a fractured right shoulder. Despite the obvious pain, Baz gritted his teeth to cross the line eleventh in race 1 and ninth in race 2. Now feeling stronger, Loris aims to improve on his performance, at a track he’s never visited before.

The Thai track is located in the north-east of the country, roughly 400 km from capital Bangkok. Inaugurated in 2014, the circuit has hosted the Superbikes since 2015.

Loris Baz:

“I’m feeling better day by day, I’m definitely not 100% and still have pain when I really exert the shoulder but I’m continuing with physio and gradually regaining mobility. I don’t know exactly how I’ll feel on the bike but definitely better than I did during the Phillip Island races. I don’t know the Buriram track of course so it will be interesting to race somewhere new. It doesn’t look particularly hard to learn and the team was strong there last year, so we’ll try to find good pace and prepare effectively for the races, in which I’d like to aim for a top-five result.”