Motorpoint Yamaha made a fearless decision to go with slicks in a wet race to give Loris Baz his first ever top five finish in British Superbikes.

The French wonderkid stormed into 4th and 5th place finishes after a tricky racing day in the rain of North Yorkshire at Croft circuit. The race was declared a ‘wet race’ which meant that the Motorpoint team had to make a difficult decision between wet or slick tyres. They chose the slicks and went out all-cyclinders firing for a high-placed finish.

In the first race Baz and Westmoreland suffered from poor first laps despite their 3rd and 5th place starts on the grid. Despite slipping down to 17th Baz rocketed up the standings to set-up a gripping final lap and steal 4th from Alex Lowes.

Baz then took his form into the second race of the day. Again, his start let him down but a display of cultured riding grabbed 5th place after persistent nagging of Gary Mason’s back wheel. By the final lap he had secured 5th place and enough points to move him up to 7th place in the overall standings.

James Westmoreland put in fine laps in both races and is still adjusting to this level. He grabbed vital points for his team but left himself with a little too much to do from the start. He finished 12th in both races after the Yorkshireman had fallen to 17th.

Says Rob Mac, team manager: “At last, I get to smile. It was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Choosing slick tyres was the only decision for us despite the wet but sometimes you just have to go for it and get yourself up for it. We’ve got a good fast pace with the guys and but race day has been lacking. When race day rolled around everyone was well up for it. Loris and Westy did well with the weather to bring home the bikes in one piece and to race like they did, especially Loris – in full slick tyres to pull off a fourth position in race one was fantastic. In the 2nd race he did not have a brilliant start but he worked out and got through to 5th. We’re over the moon with that finish and we are beginning to see his potential. Westy is getting there - it’s a bit rough for him getting going in the dodgy conditions. Now we’ve got lots of confidence and we’re looking forward to Thruxton.”