Ten Kate Yamaha signing Loris Baz believes he should be able to fight at the front of this year's WorldSBK series but warns that, so far, he hasn't even sat on the R1 he will run from Imola onwards.

Baz and his management put together a deal with Ten Kate after they were ditched by Honda and he will run client Yamaha's R1s which will be close to the spec used by GRT - but the first test may be the first race in May in Itay.

"At the end of last season, there weren’t really any available seats for me. I spoke in length with my manager, Eric Mahe, and we both agreed not to sign with anyone unless there was a guarantee that I could fight for the top positions," said Baz.

"There were no such opportunities in the WorldSBK paddock, so we also started looking in the UK and USA, but without finding anything really encouraging. We then made the risky decision to spend a season on the sidelines, even though Eric told me that something would surely happen on the Ten Kate front, but without any promises....

"And at the end of last year, the Ten Kate/Yamaha project began to take shape. It was, in my opinion, something very interesting and exciting. We would have liked for it to happen sooner, but the end of their season was very complicated, just like mine was, so everything fell into place slowly.

"Still, I’m very pleased, Yamaha is a company that I feel particularly close to, I began my career here with them thanks to Jean-Claude Olivier. I truly can’t wait to get started."

The WorldSBK circus rolls in to Aragon this weekend and then goes to Assen, which would be Ten Kate's home round, before it goes down to Imola but Baz is unfazed by the lack of testing.

We’re coming onboard with the season already underway. But with a good bike that is all ready, we can definitely fight at the front.

"We’ll also have to take into consideration that we may very well start directly in a race weekend, without any testing. It will be a discovery, it’ll be important to find our references. But for the rest of the season, the goal will be to push the bike as hard as can be and to fight for the podium.

"I spent my winter just like I do every off-season. I even intensified my programme, there’s been a lot in terms of physical preparation. I also did some motocross, rode on ice, and a bit of supermoto in Spain.

"I haven’t picked up an R1 yet, we are in talks with the team over when they’ll receive the bikes. But even if its not on a Superbike, I’d like to train on a Stock version before the races, to get an idea and start finding my markers."