Baz: "This was my best dry race ever"

Loris Baz (Reale Avintia Racing) set himself up well for the Austrian GP, going straight through to Q2 to qualify twelfth and then moving further forward in the race to take an impressive P9 and a good haul of points.

Baz was also much closer to the front at the Red Bull RIng, and in sight of those ahead of him - sadly just unable to stay ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Pull&Bear Aspar Team), but fending off Mika Kallio (Red Bull KTM Factory racing).

Loris Baz, P9: “I think this was my best dry race ever because the gap between the winner and myself was a lot smaller and I could see the leading group in front of me. We knew the tyre choice would be difficult because I did many laps with the soft tyre and I did not fee comfortable with the medium. With increased temperatures, we were not convinced that it was going to last the race distance. In spite of that I went out with the soft front and medium rear. I managed to overtake Iannone, having Viñales in sight but I was also trying to maintain the gap that I had. Bautista had a slightly quicker pace and I was not able to stay with him when he overtook me. Then I simply tried to save my tyres as much as possible until the end, which was the key today. In this difficult period, it is so important to score a good result. Silverstone is a circuit where I have some of the best and worst memories at the same time… It is a love/ hate relationship but it is one of my favourite tracks. The Ducati worked well this weekend and let’s see if we can do the same in the UK. We need to keep working but I think we learned a lot in Austria, especially in terms of my riding to fix our problems. We need to keep scoring points until the end of the season. Finally, I would like to wish Fabio (Quartararo) a speedy recovery. I know it’s difficult and I hope he will be back soon.”