Bertrand Baguette

Bertrand Marcel Nicolas Baguette(born 23 February 1986) is a Belgian professional racing driver. In2013, he won the24 Hours of Le Mansin theLMP2class and theFIA WECLMP2 class title. In 2017, he won the final running of theSuzuka 1000kminSuper GT. Bertrand is the 2022 Super GT 500 Champion withNissan.
Aged 14, Baguette begankartingin his inter-provincial championship, driving "Blue" class karts, in which he finished fifth. He then moved up to junior level for 2001, competing again in the inter-provincial championship but also competed in the national championship for the first time. He finished third in the provincial level championship, but was four places lower in the national. Baguette competed in four differentIntercontinental Aclass championships in 2002, with a runner-up position at the provincial level, despite competing in only certain events due to prior higher-ranked commitments in the Belgian, French or European championships. He then completed in a fourth year of karting, winning the Belgian Championship and again finished runner-up in a partial campaign in the provincial championship. He also won a scholarship to give him a drive in 1600cc Formula Renault Belgium.
Baguette moved into single seater racing in 2004. He entered in the BelgianFormula Renault1600cc withMarc GoossensMotorsport that year, as part of his scholarship win. He finished a strong third in the championship, amassing three wins and four poles during the season.
The next season, Baguette moved to bothEurocup Formula Renault 2.0andFrench Formula Renault 2.0championships withEpsilon Euskadi. He finished eighth (tied on points with seventh Junior Strous) in the European championship and eleventh in the French one, including a second place atPau. He continued in both series in2006with a fourth place overall in the Eurocup, including five podiums and a win at Le Mans, finishing just 11 points behind championship winnerFilipe Albuquerque. He finished in eighth in the French championship, again for Epsilon Euskadi.
In2007, Baguette entered the 3.5-litreFormula Renault 3.5 Serieswith the eponymousKurt Mollekens-run KTR team, in which he took two podium finishes in his first season. He was close to win his first race in this category atAutodromo Nazionale Monzabefore a blown tyre. He continued in the category in2008, driving for theItalianteamDracowith which he scored his first win atSpaand ended seventh in the championship.
Baguette continued with Draco for the2009 season. A steady start, with four podiums, left Baguette tied on points withMarcos Martínezbefore theSilverstonemeeting. During the second half of the season, Baguette raised his rhythm to put himself with an unassailable 34-point championship lead with a round to go. Baguette eventually won both races of the last meeting of the season atCiudad del Motor de Aragón, thus winning the championship by 57 points fromFairuz Fauzy. During his 2009 campaign, Baguette scored fives wins and ten podiums.
As a prize for his championship win, he was given the opportunity to test theRenault R29Formula Onecar atJerezon 1 December 2009. He also tested theBMWSauberF1.09 car on 3 December.
On 22 March 2010,Conquest Racingannounced that Baguette would drive their second car in theIndyCar Series, starting with theIndy Grand Prix of Alabamaon 11 April.
Baguette qualified 24th for the2010 Indianapolis 500and finished 22nd after losing several laps in the pits to replace a rear-view mirror that had fallen off.
With some strong performances throughout the season, especially on ovals, he manage a best finish of 10th at Kentucky, after qualifying 6th.
Due to a lack of budget, Baguette could not get a full-time seat for the2011 IndyCar Series. However, he could find a deal withBobby Rahal's teamRahal Letterman Lanigan Racingto enter the2011 Indianapolis 500with the No. 30 car. After showing an impressive pace during practice, Baguette qualified on the fifth row for his second Indy 500. During the race, he was constantly positioned within the first half of the field and on lap 189, manage a pass onDanica Patrickto take the lead of the2011 Indianapolis 500. His race engineer gambled on the race strategy by extending his time out on track, hoping for a late yellow flag that would have given the car a good chance at the win, but this didn't happen and low on fuel, Baguette had to pit three laps before the end of the race. He finished 7th, still his best result of his career in IndyCar.
Baguette tested forRenault F1atJerezon 1 December 2009 and forBMW Saubertwo days later. Baguette was favourite to becomeRobert Kubica's team mate at Renault after many favourites such asTimo Glock,Heikki Kovalainen,Romain Grosjean,Takuma Sato,Nick Heidfeld,Christian KlienandJacques Villeneuvedropped out but the seat was eventually filled byVitaly Petrov.
For2013, Baguette was hired byOAK Racingto drive Morgan-Nissans in theLMP2class on theFIA World Endurance Championship. Baguette shares the number 35 entry with co-driversRicardo GonzálezandMartin Plowman.
The 2013 season started at the6 Hours of Silverstone, theOAK RacingMorgan LMP2-NissanNo. 35 finished in fourth place (twelfth overall) to get their first 10 points for the World Championship.
On the6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, González, Baguette and Plowman finished in third position (for cars registered for points in the FIA World Endurance Championship), of LMP2 class (eleventh overall).
In2013Baguette and his co-drivers Ricardo González and Martin Plowman from OAK RacingMorgan LMP2-Nissanteam, won 81st edition of the24 Hours of Le Mansin LMP2 class (seventh overall). Their Morgan LMP2 covered a total of 329 laps in theCircuit de la Sarthe, the race was run in very difficult weather conditions and several serious accidents bringing out a record of twelvesafety carcaution periods.
The6 Hours of São Paulowere held at theAutódromo José Carlos Pace, on 30 August–1 September. González, Baguette and Plowman got the second place of LMP2 category, only behindOreca 03-Nissanteam (Rusinov,MartinandConway). With this result the Belgian driver got his second podium of the year.
In the fifth round of 2013 season were the6 Hours of Circuit of the AmericasinAustin, Texason 20–22 September. González, Baguette and Plowman obtained the seventh place of LMP2 category (eleventh overall).
On 18–20 October, in the6 hours of Fuji, following a two-hour delay the race was restarted once more under the safety car, lapping another eight circuits before officials stopped the race again and eventually called an end to the event. The No. 35 OAK Morgan-Nissan (Baguette, González and Plowman), started in thepole positionand was declared the race winner of LMP2 class (fourth overall), in the same position they started. Due to difficult weather conditions half points will be awarded for all the teams and drivers in the event.
During the6 Hours of Shanghaion 8–9 November, the No. 35 OAK Morgan-Nissan trio (Baguette, González and Plowman), qualified in fourth position and finished in third place (7th overall). With this new podium the French team extend their lead on 15 points to the final race of the championship.
On the last race of the season the6 Hours of Bahrainon 29–30 November, González, Baguette and Plowman qualified in sixth place and finished in fourth position (sixth overall). Therefore, the Belgian Bertrand Baguette won the 2013 FIA WEC World Championship for drivers and teams in LMP2 class.
In 2014, Baguette became a factory driver forHonda, and began competing in theSuper GTchampionship in Japan. Between 2014 and 2018, he drove for the EpsonNakajima Racingteam in the GT500 class, alongside co-driverDaisuke Nakajimafrom 2014 to 2016 and thenKosuke Matsuuraduring the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The team'sHonda NSX-GTwas the only GT500 car in the series equipped withDunlop Tyresduring these seasons, which were generally lacking performance compared to rival tyre manufacturers.
During his first season in the series in 2014, Baguette scored his first Super GT podium at the fifth round inFuji Speedway. In2017, Baguette and Matsuura drove the Epson Nakajima Racing Honda to victory at theSuzuka 1000km, considered as the biggest race in Japan. Moreover, 2017 was the last year the race was run as a 1000 km event and part of the Super GT calendar.
For the2019 season, Baguette was announced to drive the No. 17KeihinReal Racing Honda NSX-GT equipped withBridgestonetyres, partnering with Japanese driverKoudai Tsukakoshi. During the 2019 season, they scored two pole positions and one podium, but did not win a race.
Honda kept the two drivers for the next season. After scoring the fastest overall time of the pre-season tests inOkayamain March,the season was put on hold due to thecoronavirus pandemicand Baguette returned to Belgium. Eventually, the2020 seasonbegan in July, though Baguette nearly missed the season opener due to Japan's restrictions to let foreigners enter the country, but could obtain his visa just on time for the first race.The season was the best yet for Baguette, as he and Tsukakoshi managed to score two victories – at the second round at Fuji and fourth round atMotegi– and battled the whole season for the title. Both victories saw Baguette starting the race in second position and overtake the leader on track during his stint, before Tsukakoshi finished the job by driving to the finish without mistakes. The pair were leading the championship on countback going into the final round at Fuji, where ten teams could potentially win the title.The Real Racing NSX finished the race in fourth after a great comeback from a poor qualifying in which the No. 17 car could only manage twelfth position. This result saw Baguette and Tsukakoshi finish third in the championship, ten points behind the No. 100 Team Kunimitsu NSX driven byNaoki YamamotoandTadasuke Makino.
Baguette was retained at the Real Racing team for2021, with the No. 17 Honda now sponsored byAstemofollowing the merger of Keihin into the company. The Belgian, still partnering Tsukakoshi, won the Fuji 500 km race, the longest of the season, after starting only eleventh.The pair also managed to score another podium inSugotogether with two further top-five finishes. They entered the final round with a chance to win the championship, eight points off the lead,but early contact ended their race and they ultimately finished sixth in the standings.
After eight years that saw him earn four victories, seven podiums and two pole positions, Baguette announced he would leave Honda at the end of the 2021 season.
For the2022season, Baguette was signed byNissanto drive for the famousTeam Impulrun by the legendaryKazuyoshi Hoshino.This move came afterNobuharu Matsushitamade the exact opposite way around, taking the vacant seat left by Baguette on the n°17 Real Racing Honda. 2022 would also see the brand newNissan 400Ztaking part in Super GT's top class.The combination of Team Impul, the new Nissan Z, Baguette and his teammateKazuki Hiramineproved to be a great success as they managed to lead theCalsonic-liveried n°12 Nissan to the Super GT title. This crown was the first for Hoshino's legendary squad since1995. During all season, the pair fought at the top of the field, scoring 4 podiums, with one of them being an incredible victory in the 5th round at Suzuka that saw Baguette and Hiramine starting deadlast on the grid, overtaking the n°17 Astema NSX for the lead with only 3 laps to go.Eventually, the Calsonic Z was crown champion with 70.5 points, 4.5 points ahead of the n°3 Nismo Z ofKatsumasa Chiyo&Mitsunori Takaboshi.This title was the first for Bertrand Baguette after nine season competing in Super Gt GT500 class.
For the2023season, Nissan announced an unchanged lineup, with Baguette and Hiramine retained to defend their title, now driving the n°1 Calsonic Z.
Baguette competed in the high-level JapaneseSuper Formulachampionship in2015and2016, alongside his programme inSuper GT. He drove a Honda-powered car forNakajima Racing, scoring a best result of fifth in the final race of the 2016 season at Suzuka.
Season still in progress.
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Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
(key) (Races inboldindicate pole position) (Races initalicsindicate fastest lap)