Kawasaki Racing Team's Loris Baz found himself second in the eni FIM Superbike World Championship standings after the first round of the season, courtesy of a 5th and a 2nd place scored in the two races at Phillip Island. The young Frenchman had never been that high up in the standings before, but he claims he is not feeling any pressure because of it.

You didn’t have an easy week in Australia for Round 1 but in the end you managed to get great results How do you rate your start of the 2014 season?
"I’m very happy with the way we’ve opened this season because things were not looking too good before the races. Our winter testing had been great but once we got to Phillip Island, for some reason we had a difficult time. I fell three times early in the week and by Friday our confidence was a bit lost. On Saturday, we tried to get this confidence back, even if we didn’t really succeed in the Superpole, but then we managed to raise our performance for race day. We did not choose the right tyre for the first race but I took a good start for the second one and got back to the level we were at during the preseason. In the end it was positive. It’s a shame that we’ve had all these problems during the week but I’m glad that we could perform so well in the races."

Did you expect to be able to fight at the front for the podium?
"When we first arrived in Australia, I thought we could. After all the work we had done during winter, I knew that we had the level to fight for the podium. We just had to make everything work. It was a bit difficult at the beginning of the week because we had these three falls, each with no warning. Now we know why we fell but back then it was not easy. I was lucky not to get injured and by Friday, we thought that finishing both races in the top 5 would make a satisfying start of the season. In the end I was feeling very good on Sunday and when we changed the tyre for the second race, I knew that I could get a good result."

You are second in the standings. How does that make you feel?
"It’s great ! It’s good to be up there. There is still one rider ahead of me in the standings but this will matter only the end of the last race. Meanwhile, we’re going to try to do the best season we can, get on the podium as often as possible and more importantly try to avoid any mistake because that’s the key for a long Championship like this one. If we manage to do all that, I won’t have to worry about where I’ll end up in the final classification."

Did you except your compatriot Sylvain Guintoli to be that fast in Australia?
"We knew that Sylvain has always been fast in Australia, and Aprilia too. It was not surprising to see him up there. He had not ridden a lot this winter but he is a very experienced rider and he doesn’t need a lot of practice to get up to speed."

Do you think this year’s title could be a French affair between you two?
"I’d hope so, it would be cool! He sent me a message in Twitter, saying ‘Let’s do the same in Aragón’, and I replied ‘Ok! But we’ll swap positions this time!’ It would be very nice to have two French riders fighting for the top positions all year long in a World Championship."

As one of the official Kawasaki Racing Team riders, you have to perform and keep on scoring points. Now that you’ve started this season so well, do you feel any additional pressure?
"I don’t really have any pressure. I don’t know if that’s because I don’t have any pressure or just that I don’t feel it. Thanks to all the work we’ve done this winter, I have a lot of confidence in my team, my bike and our ability to do great things. I know that if we can work the way we’re supposed to, without any problem, we’ll be fighting for the top positions because we have done what we had to do this winter. Therefore, I don’t have any pressure. I have it on race day, that is normal, and it’s a good pressure, but right now I don’t feel more pressure than one or two months ago."

There’s a long break between Round 1 and Round 2. What have you been doing since Phillip Island and what have you planned for the next few weeks?
"I took a few days to relax after Australia and then got back to training. It’s always a bit strange to start the season and then have break of one and a half months before the second round. I’m looking forward for the next tests, which will take place at the end of the month and in early April. I can’t wait to get back on my bike and then head to Aragón. There, the season will pick up pace, with races that will follow each other quickly. I’m looking forward to it because it’s going to be an exciting championship for us!"

You had good results in Aragon last year, qualified in 2nd place and finished 5th and 6th in the races, but being somewhat a bit far behind the leader. Do you think you will be able to fight for the podium and maybe victory this year?
"It’s true that Aragon was not an easy weekend last year. My races were not bad, even if I had to start from the pit-lane for Race 2. We had had a lot of small issues. It’s a circuit where I used to struggle with the Kawasaki. It’s a great track but you need a lot of confidence with the front end. That precisely what we’ve been working on this winter and I think I’ll be able to fight for the podium. This winter I did the fastest time during the private test we did there, alongside riders from Aprilia and Honda. I feel confident and if we don’t do any mistake, we’ll be fighting at the front."

You’ll be testing in Jerez at the end of the month. What will you be focusing on and how important is this test for you and your team?
"We’ll finally get back on the bike, after a month-long break. We still have some details to work on for the race. We need to find solutions for a few small issues we’re having. I’m looking forward to go there and get back to riding. There won’t be any big update to try, like what we had for our last test in Jerez, but we’ll have many small things to try and that could help us for this season. This test is also very important because it’s the last one in while and we’ll have to make the most of it."