Loris Baz shows his displeasure with a clear gesture and collects a fine for it – Axel Bassani ignores the call for a long-lap penalty several times
BMW rider Loris Baz clashed with Ducati rider Axel Bassani during the World Superbike Championship in San Juan (Argentina). In the second lap, Baz crashed after a contact with Bassani and thus lost the chance for a very good result. After the crash, Baz signalled his displeasure with an extended middle finger. For this, according to his own statements, the Frenchman collected a fine of 1,000 euros.
The race directors blamed Bassani for the accident and awarded a long-lap penalty. However, Bassani did not take the penalty. A double long-lap penalty was the result. But the young Italian did not take this penalty either. A drive-through penalty followed, which Bassani eventually completed and thus slipped out of the points.
Loris Baz collects only one World Championship point in Argentina
Baz vented on Instagram after the race, posting a picture with his middle finger extended. “This shows my emotional state,” shared the WSBK veteran. “In the second race I had a really really good start. I was in the top five and then tried to ride calmly and take care of the tyres. Bassani bowled me out and that was the end of it.”
“I went on and finished 17th, but unfortunately didn’t get any points,” fretted Baz, who picked up just one World Championship point in the three races of the first overseas weekend.
Crash for Baz! Hopefully he can remount 💪#ARGWorldSBK 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/fO6Q3DyxyX
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) October 23, 2022
“To come to Argentina with the long journey and only take one point from the Superpole race is not a great reward. But we worked great as a team and never gave up throughout the weekend,” commented the BMW driver.
“Of course I’m disappointed. All the BMW riders struggled here and I think it wasn’t the easiest track for us overall, but I think I rode pretty well all weekend,” explained Baz. “I had a good Superpole but struggled in the race on Saturday. But we improved the bike for Sunday. We were able to finish in the top nine in the Superpole race. ”
Axel Bassani apologises and explains his behaviour
Motocorsa rider Axel Bassani regrets Loris Baz crashing in the second race. “First of all, I want to apologise to Loris. It was not my intention to make him crash,” clarifies the Italian.
But why did Bassani ignore the penalties? “I didn’t complete the first long-lap penalty because there was no message on my dashboard from race control and I was fully concentrated on my race,” the Ducati rider described.
“I didn’t look at my pit board and didn’t see that I had been given a penalty. Otherwise I would have implemented the penalty immediately. In the end, I got a drive-through penalty. I apologise to my team because I threw away a good result,” said Bassani.