Reale Avintia Racing rider Loris Baz opened his 2017 account with a solid points finish in the #QatarGP, despite struggling with his right arm during the race. The Frenchman also praised the gap to winner Viñales as the smallest it’s been – 20 seconds – despite suffering with the issues.
Close to a grip-deprived Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) in eleventh, Baz couldn’t quite take the Spaniard and came over the line in P12 – dedicating the positive result to Anthony Delhalle and Adrien Protat, two French riders who tragically passed away recently.
#slowmotion #QatarGP @realeavintia @DucatiMotor @MotoGP pic.twitter.com/xbgNMwmwCN
— Loris baz (@lorisbaz) 27 March 2017
Loris Baz, P12: "It has not been easy, but I think the race and the result have been good for us. We started the season scoring and, above all, the distance with the first has been 20 seconds and is the closest we've ever finished. I have had a problem with my right arm that gripped me since the start of the race. We have to look at why it happened, it could be because of the brake that was very hard or because I was losing the front wheel almost at every corner, but in the end I could not fight with Lorenzo because I hurt a lot and could not even fully accelerate deep on the straight. But I'm happy because it's good to start the season so that I can dedicate the result to Anthony and Adrien.”