After an already extremely full career (Superstock, BSB, Endurance, Superbike, MotoGP, Superbike again, MotoAmerica Superbike) when he was only 32 years old, Loris Baz is one of three Indian factory riders in the King of the Baggers class this year.
A strange choice on strange machines in our eyes as poor Europeans, which we asked him to explain to us, between tests for Dunlop at the Bugatti and a plane for the USA...
Loris, we saw the words you gave to Sean Bice After your podium at Daytona, could you explain to French readers the reasons for your choice to participate in the King of the Baggers championship?
Loris Baz : “ Listen, it's a series of things. At the end of last year's season, when we sat down with the Warhouse New York team, we knew it was going to be complicated for them to make two bikes in 2025 for budgetary reasons, following the loss of a sponsor at the beginning of last year. And we started talking about it, the team initially talked to me about making a Baggers team because they are also Indian dealers, and they had an interest in doing that. That was in September, we didn't talk about it again because we did everything we could to set up and try to find partners to make the Superbike project successful. And then at the end of November, when we understood that it was going to be complicated, that the partner opportunities weren't developing. with Louis (DeNaples) from Warhouse, we talked about it again and he said to me, “listen, more than just making a team for us, they are interested, they are looking for a 3rd rider to make 3 riders in the official Indian team. So I spoke with Gary (Gray) on the phone who is the boss of Indian for the race, and that’s it. I didn’t know at all what to expect, or if I wanted to do it, and in fact they had a test session at the beginning of December and I flew. I told him “I take the plane, I come and I drive one day”, and actually I rode one day, Petersen rode the 2nd day. I actually went there just to see what it was like, and I thought “If I enjoy myself, why not? And if I have fun on the motorcycle, why not?”. And actually yeah, I had fun, it's fun to ride, the team works really well, honestly the organization is worthy of the best teams I've been in, they work really really well. So that, the environment and everything, I liked, and there you go, I had fun on the bike, so I said to myself "Go on !". Afterwards we talked, we negotiated a few things, I wanted to have my freedom on the side, to do what I wanted in other races, for endurance, for World Superbike, replacements, and so on, but on the side, rather than staying at home, well at least I had a project in something that was viable, and that was cool. Anyway, if I hadn't done that, I would have stayed training, as I've already done several times, and waiting for a handlebar to become available, an opportunity to present itself. So in fact I'm in the same situation, except that I have an ambitious and viable project on the side. And then after that, there were a lot of things that got back on track, the fact that I was a Polaris ambassador for years, that Polaris bought Indian 2, 3 years ago, that I know everyone in the Polaris Indian Europe group: there were a lot of things that made it cool that it was happening and that we were going to have a good season.”
So that leads straight to the second question. You're a top-level rider, MotoGP, World Superbike, etc., who's raced the best bikes in the world, and you say you enjoy riding. From a European perspective, we wonder how that's possible, after everything you've been through. Explain it to us...
"As soon as I'm on a bike, I have fun, and in fact I think it's the same for all riders. So of course, the most beautiful bikes I've ridden in my life and on which I've had the best sensations, they will always be the MotoGP bikes, et cetera, but in fact at the same time, every time I've ridden a bike, whether it's a motocross bike, my friend who opens his garage and I get on his bike to mess around in a field, I've always had fun. So in fact, here it's the same: I got on it, and the Baggers are bikes that don't have traction control, they're still bikes that make more than 200 horsepower now, that take more than 300 per hour, that ride at 4 seconds from the Superbikes, and in fact it slides a lot. So that's what's funny, there's no Traction Control so it slides a lot. DSo that's quite funny. It's an engine that has a lot of torque, so it slides and that's what's very funny. Then, with the regulations, the bike can't go below 260 kilos. So it has its drawbacks and you have to deal with it, you have to adapt, but I didn't go there with the mindset of saying to myself “I will have the same sensations as on a Superbike”. I went there thinking “Here we go, let’s see what it is.”. And before I got on the bike, I said to Troy (Herfoss, 2024 champion) “How do you drive this thing?”. And he said to me " Well, you'll see. I asked myself the same question and in the end it's a motorcycle, what?. I did 2 laps trying to ask myself what was going on, and then, well, you look for performance, you try to brake later and later, to accelerate earlier and earlier, to understand also what the bike needs, if you have to ride it while trying to keep up speed or more when picking up. So you immediately get back into what you have always done, into performance, and you try to be as efficient as possible with what you have between your legs.
So, what you have between your legs, contrary to what one might believe because of the bags and the fork crown, is a very sophisticated motorcycle. You have already given some figures, 260 kilos, more than 200 horsepower, but I read the regulations and you have the right to change the swingarm, to put Öhlins everywhere, Brembo everywhere. In terms of the engine, the displacement takes into account both brands but it is enormous, and it is still very sophisticated, as a motorcycle...
To be continued tomorrow…
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