Loris Baz will be back on the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship grid this weekend as he replaces Tarran Mackenzie (MGM Optical Express Racing). ‘Taz’ has been forced to miss his home round at Donington as well as the following round at Magny-Cours through injuries he sustained in practice in the UK, and the team have opted to draft in Baz for this weekend’s EICMA Italian Round at the Cremona Circuit.
Mackenzie sustained several injuries in a big crash at the final corner at Donington Park, with his collarbone, shoulder blade and his left tibia and fibula all injured when he had a huge moment under braking at Goddard’s and came off his Panigale V4 R. The #95 subsequently had surgery on his tibia and fibula fractures. He had aimed to return at Magny-Cours after the summer break but was ruled unfit ahead of a pre-round check, with the team opting to not replace him in France.
While his recovery is still ongoing, the team have decided to draft in a familiar face for the visit to Cremona. Two-time race winner Baz will be back with Michael Galinski’s squad in Italy, having raced for them in 2022 and 2023 when they ran BMW machinery. The French rider also has some experience of Ducati machinery in WorldSBK – albeit on the previous iteration of the bike – from a replacement rider stint at Team GoEleven in 2021, where he secured two podiums in five races. Most recently, he was in MotoAmerica on the Ducati as a replacement rider, winning a race this year, while in 2025, he finished second in the MotoAmerica King of the Baggers championship.
A statement from the team read: “While Tarran is still recovering from the injury he sustained at Donington Park and already had to sit out Magny-Cours, an old friend of MGM Racing and well-known WorldSBK rider returns to action this weekend at Cremona. Loris Baz will replace Tarran Mackenzie for round 10 of the 2026 season aboard the MGM Optical Racing Team’s Ducati Panigale V4. Welcome back, Loris! Meanwhile we’re wishing Tarran a speedy and full recovery and are looking forward to hopefully having him back with us for the final two rounds of the WorldSBK season!”
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