Frenchman Loris Baz will make his return to the WorldSBK series this season with the new Ten Kate Yamaha squad at Imola.
Baz had been waiting in the wings for a good deal to turn up and his contacts within Yamaha Europe enabled him to get straight on with the new Ten Kate setup.
"I’m proud to meet this team, a big name in Holland. I joined the paddock in 2008, so I know the name, I even did two races with them in the past," said Baz.
"I’m also really happy to join Yamaha, this is the brand of my heart, the brand I started with, who I won the Superstock 600 championship with. I’m so happy for this.
"For the moment we’re focusing on this year. We want to start our season at Imola and be competitive as soon as possible. Beyond that, even if nothing has been signed for next year, my goal as well as the team’s is to continue for several seasons, to evolve and work together.
Yamaha has put in place a ‘client’ programme; what that means is that my bike is the same as the ones delivered to Crescent and GRT. If there are any upgrades during the year, the official team will be the first beneficiaries.
"In fact, the only difference between my bike and the rest will be the brakes, we will work with Nissin. The good new is that we’ll receive a finished machine, there’s no development to be done so I hope to perform straightaway.
