Loris Baz Returns to Victory in MotoAmerica Superbike: He Kept a Special Promise

The French rider capped off the recent race weekend in Virginia with a victory: he was especially determined to triumph.

MotoGP and WorldSBK are on a break, but last weekend still delivered thrills from the world of motorcycle racing. We wrote about the show put on by BSB at Thruxton and Jeffrey Herlings’ latest wins in MXGP in Sweden, but we must also celebrate what happened in MotoAmerica Superbike at the Virginia International Raceway, where the third-to-last round of the 2026 calendar ended with Loris Baz’s return to victory.

Race 1 and Race 2 of MotoAmerica Superbike were won by Bobby Fong (Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing), with Mathew Scholtz of the Strack Racing team completing a Yamaha one-two. Championship leader Sean Dylan Kelly limited the damage by bringing his BMW M 1000 RR to the third step of the podium.

Race 3 was truly chaotic. On lap 7 of the scheduled 20, there was a violent crash for Richie Escalante (M4 ECSTAR Suzuki): at high speed he hit the safety barriers, which were damaged and needed repair. The red flag to stop the race was inevitable.

When Race 3 restarted over an 11-lap distance, there was a major pileup at Turn 1: Fong dove into the corner on the inside, lost control of his bike, and triggered crashes for other riders. He, Cameron Petersen, and Benjamin Smith retired immediately, while Scholtz and Kelly rejoined with damaged bikes. The South African then retired with mechanical issues, while the OrangeCat Racing rider nursed his BMW to 15th, earning a single point.

The win went to Baz on the Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law Panigale. The Frenchman made the decisive pass on PJ Jacobsen on the penultimate lap and did well to keep the American colleague’s Ducati behind, which crossed the line just 0.155 seconds adrift. The podium was completed by Jayson Uribe’s M 1000 RR, his first-ever MotoAmerica Superbike podium.

It was June 12 when it was announced that Baz would return to racing in the United States to replace the injured Cameron Beaubier with the Warhorse HSBK Ducati team, for whom he had already raced in 2021 during his first MotoAmerica Superbike stint and then in 2024, taking one win and several podiums.

The 33-year-old Frenchman spent 2025 in the USA competing in the King of the Baggers category, finishing runner-up, and also took part in the Suzuka 8 Hours and the Bol d’Or (EWC) with the AutoRace Ube Racing Team BMW M 1000 RR (6th overall).

Over his career, Baz has raced in various categories and reached the top by competing in both the World Superbike Championship and MotoGP. He has contested over 250 races between the production-derived championship and the premier class of Grand Prix motorcycle racing. The desire to race is still strong, and over the weekend at VIRginia International Raceway he secured what is his second overall victory in MotoAmerica Superbike, the first having come in Race 2 at New Jersey Motorsports Park in 2024.

The Frenchman was especially keen to win on the Virginia weekend, both because it was his last with the Warhorse HSBK Ducati team and for personal reasons: "I want to start by dedicating this win to two of my very best friends and to my first mechanic, who passed away over the last month. Unfortunately I was here racing and couldn’t be with their families. So Denis, Franc, this one’s for you. When I heard the bad news, I promised I would win a race before having to give the bike back to Cam. I’m really proud I managed to do it. I want to thank Bobby (Shek). I want to thank Warhorse and the whole team. In the race I was lucky, but this pays back the bad luck from the last round at Mid-Ohio. I’m over the moon to have done it again in front of my father."

Baz contested four rounds of the 2026 MotoAmerica Superbike calendar, scoring a total of 91 points and climbing to tenth in the overall standings. The final race allowed him to claim his only podium, and standing on the top step was a great satisfaction before handing the Panigale V4 R back to the returning Cameron Beaubier, who will contest the final two rounds of the season at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin and at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

The title fight is still open. Kelly leads the standings with 250 points, Scholtz is 17 behind. Beach and Fong will also be pushing hard, 31 and 38 points adrift respectively.