MCN’s top ten WSB riders: 5th

A remarkable season of FIM Superbike World Championship racing delivered an eclectic bunch of riders onto the podiums, from Australia to Qatar and all points in between. MCN’s entirely subjective top ten rider run-down attempts to grade the top riders from ten to one.

Loris Baz

• Championship position: 5th
• Wins: 0
• Podiums: 9

For a rider who is too big for a MotoGP bike – according to some – Loris Baz was not quite too big for a factory Kawasaki WSB bike. His task may have been too big for him in 2014, as he never scored his much-desired win to add to his previous total of two. Weird, as he has talent as tall as he is.

Nobody, sadly for him, is going to remember Baz’s 2014 season for his riding exploits, which is a shame because there were a few really good rides in a season that started better than it finished.

He gathered silver and bronze medals with regularity early in the season, but managed to wind-up his team-mate and champion so much that when he skittled Sykes at Sepang, the last vestiges of civility went out the window and both riders got deflected from their overall task by the folly of an unwinnable civil war.

You have to admire his pure desire to win but not adding to his win total when his team-mate scored eight victories is not an ideal statistic to take into his new GP adventure.