Press Release | September 21, 2023
Scott Redding and Garrett Gerloff are confirmed for Bonovo Action BMW, Michael van der Mark and Toprak Razgatlioglu partnered for ROKiT BMW Motorrad. Loris Baz said to be leaving World Superbike project after the end of the current season.
Scott Redding
This is a press release from Dorna/WorldSBK…
(September 20, 2023) — The 2020 WorldSBK runner-up moves over to the Bonovo Action BMW squad, whilst Michael van der Mark will be back alongside Toprak Razgatlioglu like in the pair’s 2020 season with Yamaha
The 2023 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship heads to Aragon this weekend for the Tissot Aragon Round but headlines are already being made off-track with regards to 2024. Scott Redding will move out of his current factory BMW seat and across to to the Bonovo Action BMW outfit to partner Garrett Gerloff, thus confirming Michael van der Mark as Toprak Razgatlioglu’s 2024 teammate.
After what had been a major period of speculation regarding the line-up across the 2024 seating arrangements at BMW, good friends Razgatlioglu and van der Mark will spearhead the German manufacturers’ efforts. Both were race winners as teammates for Yamaha, and that winning combination is something that BMW hope will drive their project to new heights.
As for the Bonovo Action BMW team, Scott Redding will replace Loris Baz and join Garrett Gerloff, who he is battling with in 2023 for top BMW honors. Gerloff took the manufacturer’s first pole for 2 years last time out at Magny-Cours, whilst securing a double top five in the races. For Scott Redding, his best result of the year has been fourth place, at home at Donington Park.
Dr. Markus Schramm, Director of BMW Motorrad, stated his excitement and emphasized that all four riders and both teams will have equal support and material from the factory itself: “Four great BMW Motorrad factory riders in our two strong BMW teams – with this new allocation, we are set up superbly for the WorldSBK season 2024. Scott Redding is a great racer and we appreciate that he is staying true to our BMW Motorrad World Superbike project by bringing his skills to bear in the Bonovo Action BMW team. His experience, speed and expertise in particular, will be a key component as we optimise our collective goals together with Garrett Gerloff and the whole team. The addition of Toprak Razgatlioglu allows us to distribute our factory riders perfectly across our two competitive teams. Together with Michael van der Mark in the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, we have the ideal line-up for the overall project.”
Michael van der Mark
Schramm continued to analyze BMW’s lineup and how important it is that a stronger link between the factory and the teams will translate into on-track success: “Collaborating closely with our BMW Motorrad Motorsport engineers, both teams will use the feedback from the riders to make continuous, collective improvements to the motorbike. We also believe that having two teams with top riders will also raise the internal competitive pressure. That also helps to lift the overall performance levels. We are convinced that this new line-up for riders and teams represents another important step as we move closer to the top of WorldSBK with our project. Finally, I would like to thank Loris Baz for our collaboration. He will leave the World Superbike project after the end of the current season. After two seasons that he contested for the Bonovo Action BMW team, we wish him all the best for the future.”
What’s next for Loris Baz after BMW exit confirmed?
The following is an updated from September 21, 2023…
WorldSBK race winner, podium finisher on a variety of bikes but now looking for a slot on the grid, Loris Baz is one of the biggest names on the market
What’s next for Loris Baz?
Following the news that Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) will partner Toprak Razgatlioglu in the factory BMW outfit for 2024 and that Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) will move across to the Bonovo Action BMW team alongside existing rider Garrett Gerloff, there’s no room at the BMW Inn for Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW). The popular Frenchman, who is in his second season with Jurgen Roder’s German outfit, is now one of the key names on the market for next year and time is ticking in terms of what he’ll do. Enjoy all the latest silly season gossip here, too!
Baz’s 2023 season hasn’t set the world on fire but that has been down to many reasons, the main one being his horrendous leg injury sustained during the Superpole Race at Mandalika in Indonesia. On the opening lap of the restart, he was being overtaken by Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) on the approach to Turn 10 but with the #76’s leg dangling in the track, Lowes couldn’t avoid hitting it, leaving Baz with ligament damage and a fractured fibula, as well as—at the time—questioning whether his leg was still there.
However, in true Loris Baz style and determination, he was back at the next round six weeks later at Assen, although no points were rewarded for his efforts. Just two more points-scoring finishes were registered as he fought back to full fitness, until a fine eighth place at Imola put a smile back on his and the team’s face. In the last nine races, six top ten finishes from nine, with a best result of seventh coming in Race 2 at Imola and matched at home at Magny-Cours in the Superpole Race.
Speaking of the news that he’s surplus to requirements within BMW for 2024, Baz said: “I’m OK and I expected this decision, so it hasn’t come from nowhere. I’m working on my future with my manager, trying to find the best option and doing everything I can to stay in WorldSBK. It’s a bit early to know what I can do, but I want to stay here.”
This isn’t the first time that Baz has been the odd one out when it comes to the annual game of musical chairs. In 2014, it was announced that Jonathan Rea would replace him at Kawasaki for 2015, although Baz sought refuge in MotoGP™ with Forward Racing. The team withdrew at the end of 2015, but he moved to the Aspar Ducati outfit until the end of 2017, when he lost his ride to Karel Abraham.
Baz was back to WorldSBK in 2018 with the Althea BMW but was then without a ride for 2019 as the team joined up with Honda’s hybrid-official effort. Halfway through 2019, he was back on the grid with Ten Kate Racing Yamaha, themselves having to leave long-term partners Honda for 2019 with Baz and the Dutch team together until the end of 2020, achieving two podiums. However, Ten Kate scaled back their WorldSBK effort, instead dedicating their resources to their roots in WorldSSP, leaving Baz out of work again before he found the Warhorse Ducati ride in MotoAmerica. However, a stand-in ride at Portimao for the injured Chaz Davies gave a podium, putting him in the shop window and thus joining Bonovo Action BMW for 2022 as part of the team’s expansion to two riders, alongside Eugene Laverty.
Baz’s manager is none other than Eric Mahe, former manager to 2021 MotoGP World Champion Fabio Quartararo. Baz continued to look to the future and praised Eric for the work he’s done already: “I’m lucky enough to have one of the best managers around; we have three rounds remaining with Bonovo and they’re a great group of guys, so they deserve the best for myself and we’ll try to have fun on the bike as much as we can. We’ll see what my manager brings me between rounds.”
