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Bertrand Baguette
Bertrand Baguette Driver of Oak Racing's Morgan Nissan (8667984777) (cropped).jpg
Baguette at the 2013 6 Hours of Silverstone
Nationality Belgium Belgian
Born Bertrand Marcel Nicolas Baguette
(1986-02-23) 23 February 1986 (age 38)
Verviers, Belgium
Super GT (GT500) career
Debut season 2014
Current team Team Impul
Racing licence FIA Platinum Driver.png FIA Platinum
Car no. 12
Former teams Nakajima Racing, Real Racing
Starts 83
Wins 5
Podiums 12
Poles 2
Best finish 1st in 2022
Previous series
2015–2016
2013
2010–11
2008
2008
2008
2007–09
2005–06
2005–06
2004
Super Formula Championship
FIA WEC
IndyCar Series
FIA GT Championship
Superleague Formula
Belgian Touring Cars S1
Formula Renault 3.5 Series
Formula Renault Eurocup
French Formula Renault 2.0
Formula Renault Belgium
Championship titles
2022
2013
2009
Super GT
FIA WEC LMP2 class
Formula Renault 3.5 Series


Bertrand Marcel Nicolas Baguette (born 23 February 1986) is a Belgian professional racing driver. In 2013, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 class and the FIA WEC LMP2 class title. In 2017, he won the final running of the Suzuka 1000km in Super GT. Bertrand is the 2022 Super GT 500 Champion with Nissan.

Career

Karting

Aged 14, Baguette began karting in 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 different Intercontinental A class 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.

Formula Renault

Baguette moved into single seater racing in 2004. He entered in the Belgian Formula Renault 1600cc with Marc Goossens Motorsport 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 both Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and French Formula Renault 2.0 championships with Epsilon 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 at Pau. He continued in both series in 2006 with a fourth place overall in the Eurocup, including five podiums and a win at Le Mans, finishing just 11 points behind championship winner Filipe Albuquerque. He finished in eighth in the French championship, again for Epsilon Euskadi.

In 2007, Baguette entered the 3.5-litre Formula Renault 3.5 Series with the eponymous Kurt 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 at Autodromo Nazionale Monza before a blown tyre. He continued in the category in 2008, driving for the Italian team Draco with which he scored his first win at Spa and ended seventh in the championship.

Baguette continued with Draco for the 2009 season. A steady start, with four podiums, left Baguette tied on points with Marcos Martínez before the Silverstone meeting. 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 at Ciudad del Motor de Aragón, thus winning the championship by 57 points from Fairuz 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 the Renault R29 Formula One car at Jerez on 1 December 2009. He also tested the BMW Sauber F1.09 car on 3 December.

IndyCar Series

Bertrand Baguette 2010 Toronto
Baquette at the 2010 Honda Indy Toronto

On 22 March 2010, Conquest Racing announced that Baguette would drive their second car in the IndyCar Series, starting with the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on 11 April.

Baguette qualified 24th for the 2010 Indianapolis 500 and 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 the 2011 IndyCar Series. However, he could find a deal with Bobby Rahal's team Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to enter the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with 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 on Danica Patrick to take the lead of the 2011 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.

Formula One

Baguette tested for Renault F1 at Jerez on 1 December 2009 and for BMW Sauber two days later. Baguette was favourite to become Robert Kubica's team mate at Renault after many favourites such as Timo Glock, Heikki Kovalainen, Romain Grosjean, Takuma Sato, Nick Heidfeld, Christian Klien and Jacques Villeneuve dropped out but the seat was eventually filled by Vitaly Petrov.

FIA World Endurance Championship

Morgan Nissan LMP2
Martin Plowman, Baguette's co-driver at the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans

For 2013, Baguette was hired by OAK Racing to drive Morgan-Nissans in the LMP2 class on the FIA World Endurance Championship. Baguette shares the number 35 entry with co-drivers Ricardo González and Martin Plowman.

The 2013 season started at the 6 Hours of Silverstone, the OAK Racing Morgan LMP2-Nissan No. 35 finished in fourth place (twelfth overall) to get their first 10 points for the World Championship.

On the 6 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).

In 2013 Baguette and his co-drivers Ricardo González and Martin Plowman from OAK Racing Morgan LMP2-Nissan team, won 81st edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMP2 class (seventh overall). Their Morgan LMP2 covered a total of 329 laps in the Circuit de la Sarthe, the race was run in very difficult weather conditions and several serious accidents bringing out a record of twelve safety car caution periods.

The 6 Hours of São Paulo were held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, on 30 August–1 September. González, Baguette and Plowman got the second place of LMP2 category, only behind Oreca 03-Nissan team (Rusinov, Martin and Conway). With this result the Belgian driver got his second podium of the year.

In the fifth round of 2013 season were the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on 20–22 September. González, Baguette and Plowman obtained the seventh place of LMP2 category (eleventh overall).

On 18–20 October, in the 6 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 the pole position and 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 the 6 Hours of Shanghai on 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 the 6 Hours of Bahrain on 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.

Super GT

No.64 Epson Modulo NSX-GT (4) (37214162952)
The Epson NSX-GT of Baguette at Suzuka in 2017

In 2014, Baguette became a factory driver for Honda, and began competing in the Super GT championship in Japan. Between 2014 and 2018, he drove for the Epson Nakajima Racing team in the GT500 class, alongside co-driver Daisuke Nakajima from 2014 to 2016 and then Kosuke Matsuura during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The team's Honda NSX-GT was the only GT500 car in the series equipped with Dunlop Tyres during 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 in Fuji Speedway. In 2017, Baguette and Matsuura drove the Epson Nakajima Racing Honda to victory at the Suzuka 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 the 2019 season, Baguette was announced to drive the No. 17 Keihin Real Racing Honda NSX-GT equipped with Bridgestone tyres, partnering with Japanese driver Koudai Tsukakoshi. During the 2019 season, they scored two pole positions and one podium, but did not win a race.

No.17 KEIHIN NSX-GT at 2020 FUJIMAKI GROUP SUZUKA 300km (37)
Baguette's Keihin NSX-GT in 2020

Honda kept the two drivers for the next season. After scoring the fastest overall time of the pre-season tests in Okayama in March, the season was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic and Baguette returned to Belgium. Eventually, the 2020 season began 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 at Motegi – 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 by Naoki Yamamoto and Tadasuke Makino.

Baguette was retained at the Real Racing team for 2021, with the No. 17 Honda now sponsored by Astemo following 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 in Sugo together 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 the 2022 season, Baguette was signed by Nissan to drive for the famous Team Impul run by the legendary Kazuyoshi Hoshino. This move came after Nobuharu Matsushita made 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 new Nissan 400Z taking part in Super GT's top class. The combination of Team Impul, the new Nissan Z, Baguette and his teammate Kazuki Hiramine proved to be a great success as they managed to lead the Calsonic-liveried n°12 Nissan to the Super GT title. This crown was the first for Hoshino's legendary squad since 1995. 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 of Katsumasa Chiyo & Mitsunori Takaboshi. This title was the first for Bertrand Baguette after nine season competing in Super Gt GT500 class.

For the 2023 season, Nissan announced an unchanged lineup, with Baguette and Hiramine retained to defend their title, now driving the n°1 Calsonic Z.

Super Formula

Baguette competed in the high-level Japanese Super Formula championship in 2015 and 2016, alongside his programme in Super GT. He drove a Honda-powered car for Nakajima Racing, scoring a best result of fifth in the final race of the 2016 season at Suzuka.

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2004 Formula Renault 1.6 Belgium Marc Goossens Motorsport 14 2 4 - 6 170 3rd
2005 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Epsilon Euskadi 16 0 0 1 0 43 7th
Formula Renault 2.0 France Epsilon Sport 15 0 0 0 1 30 11th
2006 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Epsilon Euskadi 14 1 0 1 5 88 4th
Formula Renault 2.0 France Epsilon Sport 10 0 0 1 1 48 8th
2007 Formula Renault 3.5 Series KTR 17 0 0 0 2 34 17th
2008 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Draco Racing 17 1 0 0 1 69 7th
Superleague Formula Al Ain 4 0 0 0 0 244 12th
FIA GT Championship - GT2 Easy Race S.r.l. 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2009 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Draco Racing 17 5 1 2 10 155 1st
2010 IndyCar Series Conquest Racing 15 0 0 0 0 213 22nd
2011 FIA GT1 World Championship Marc VDS Racing Team 4 0 0 0 1 28 17th
IndyCar Series Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 1 0 0 0 0 30 39th
2012 FIA World Endurance Championship OAK Racing 8 0 0 0 0 2 71st
European Le Mans Series - LMP2 2 1 0 0 2 71 2nd
American Le Mans Series - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC
Blancpain Endurance Series GPR Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
24 Hours of Le Mans OAK Racing 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
2013 FIA World Endurance Championship OAK Racing 8 2 1 1 5 141.5 1st
24 Hours of Le Mans 1 1 0 0 1 N/A 1st
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series - Elite Racing Club Partners 2 0 0 0 0 65 38th
2014 Super GT Nakajima Racing 8 0 0 0 1 12 17th
2015 Super GT Nakajima Racing 8 0 0 0 0 4 15th
Super Formula Nakajima Racing 8 0 0 0 0 0 18th
2016 Super GT Nakajima Racing 8 0 0 0 0 7 18th
Super Formula Nakajima Racing 0 0 0 0 0 4.5 15th
Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 1 0 0 0 0 8 36th
2017 Super GT Nakajima Racing 8 1 0 0 1 32 11th
Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Attempto Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2018 Super GT Nakajima Racing 8 0 0 0 0 4 19th
Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup - Pro-Am Castrol Honda Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2019 Super GT Keihin Real Racing 8 0 2 2 1 39 6th
Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Team Honda Racing 1 0 0 0 0 11 28th
Intercontinental GT Challenge Honda Team Motul 4 0 1 0 0 10 25th
2020 Super GT Keihin Real Racing 8 2 0 0 2 59 3rd
Intercontinental GT Challenge Team Honda Racing 1 0 1 0 0 12 15th
2021 Super GT Astemo Real Racing 8 1 0 0 2 52 6th
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup - Pro-Am Orange1 FFF Racing Team 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Intercontinental GT Challenge 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2022 Super GT Team Impul 8 1 0 0 4 70.5 1st
2023 Super GT Team Impul 8 0 0 0 1 46 5th
Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux AUGUST by NGT 4 1 1 0 0 59 10th
2024 Super GT Team Impul 3 0 0 1 0 13 11th*
Super Taikyu - ST-Z Naniwa Denso Team Impul

* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 DC Points
2007 KTR MNZ
1

18
MNZ
2

Ret
NÜR
1

11
NÜR
2

Ret
MON
1

12
HUN
1

Ret
HUN
2

17
SPA
1

5
SPA
2

Ret
DON
1

3
DON
2

Ret
MAG
1

Ret
MAG
2

13
EST
1
20
EST
2
Ret
CAT
1

8
CAT
2

2
17th 34
2008 Draco Racing MNZ
1

Ret
MNZ
2

Ret
SPA
1

1
SPA
2

11
MON
1

5
SIL
1

6
SIL
2

16
HUN
1

4
HUN
2

4
NÜR
1

5
NÜR
2

5
BUG
1
Ret
BUG
2
16
EST
1
Ret
EST
2
4
CAT
1

Ret
CAT
2

4
7th 69
2009 Draco Racing CAT
1

2
CAT
2

Ret
SPA
1

2
SPA
2

2
MON
1

5
HUN
1

3
HUN
2

6
SIL
1

8
SIL
2

5
BUG
1

1
BUG
2
1
ALG
1
2
ALG
2
5
NÜR
1

1
NÜR
2

5
ALC
1

1
ALC
2

1
1st 155

Superleague Formula

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Operator 1 2 3 4 5 6 Position Points
2008 Al Ain Azerti Motorsport DON NÜR ZOL EST VAL JER 12th 244
11 10 10 7

IndyCar Series results

(key)

Year Team Chassis No. Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Rank Points Ref
2010 Conquest Racing Dallara
IR-05
36 Honda SAO STP ALA
20
LBH
24
KAN
20
INDY
22
TXS
22
IOW
17
WGL
18
TOR
16
EDM
14
MDO
11
22nd 213
34 SNM
23
CHI
12
KTY
10
MOT
25
HMS
15
2011 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 30 STP ALA LBH SAO INDY
7
TXS TXS MIL IOW TOR EDM MDO NHM SNM BAL MOT KTY LVS 39th 30
Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win)
Top 10s
(Non-podium)
Indianapolis 500
Wins
Championships
2 2 16 0 0 0 2 0 0

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2010 Dallara Honda 24 22 Conquest Racing
2011 Dallara Honda 14 7 RLL Racing

Complete GT1 World Championship results

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Points
2011 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT1 ABU
QR
ABU
CR
ZOL
QR
ZOL
CR
ALG
QR
ALG
CR
SAC
QR
SAC
CR
SIL
QR
SIL
CR
NAV
QR
3
NAV
CR
4
PRI
QR
PRI
CR
ORD
QR
ORD
CR
BEI
QR
Ret
BEI
CR
4
SAN
QR
SAN
CR
17th 28

Complete European Le Mans Series results

Year Team Class Car Engine 1 2 3 Rank Points
2012 OAK Racing LMP2 Morgan LMP2 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 CAS DON
1
ATL
2
2nd 71

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2012 France OAK Racing France Franck Montagny
Austria Dominik Kraihamer
OAK Pescarolo 01 Evo-Judd LMP1 219 DNF DNF
2013 France OAK Racing United Kingdom Martin Plowman
Mexico Ricardo González
OAK Morgan LMP2 Nissan LMP2 329 7th 1st

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Year Team Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank Points
2012 OAK Racing LMP1 OAK Pescarolo 01 Judd DB 3.4 L V8 SEB
25
SPA
Ret
LMS
Ret
71st 2
LMP2 Morgan LMP2 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL
14
SÃO
Ret
BHR
Ret
LMP1 OAK Pescarolo 01 Honda LM-V8 3.4 L V8 FUJ
16
SHA
14
2013 OAK Racing LMP2 Morgan LMP2 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL
4
SPA
3
LMS
1
SÃO
2
COA
7
FUJ
1
SHA
3
BHR
4
1st 141.5

Complete Super GT results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points
2014 Nakajima Racing Honda NSX Concept-GT GT500 OKA
15
FUJ
Ret
AUT
10
SUG
13
FUJ
3
SUZ
12
BUR
Ret
MOT
14
17th 12
2015 OKA
Ret
FUJ
12
CHA
11
FUJ
11
SUZ
9
SUG
Ret
AUT
10
MOT
13
15th 4
2016 OKA
14
FUJ
10
SUG
12
FUJ
11
SUZ
11
CHA
5
MOT
13
MOT
14
18th 7
2017 Honda NSX-GT OKA
12
FUJ
13
AUT
12
SUG
8
FUJ
12
SUZ
1
CHA
8
MOT
10
11th 32
2018 Epson Nakajima Racing OKA
15
FUJ
Ret
SUZ
10
CHA
9
FUJ
13
SUG
13
AUT
10
MOT
12
19th 4
2019 Keihin Real Racing OKA
14
FUJ
5
SUZ
Ret
CHA
13
FUJ
8
AUT
2
SUG
5
MOT
5
6th 39
2020 FUJ
Ret
FUJ
1
SUZ
8
MOT
1
FUJ
10
SUZ
10
MOT
5
FUJ
4
3rd 59
2021 Astemo Real Racing OKA
5
FUJ
1
MOT
14
SUZ
7
SUG
3
AUT
8
MOT
4
FUJ
Ret
6th 52
2022 Team Impul Nissan Z GT500 OKA
7
FUJ
3‡
SUZ
Ret
FUJ
2
SUZ
1
SUG
5
AUT
6
MOT
2
1st 70.5
2023 OKA
6
FUJ
9
SUZ
3
FUJ
15
SUZ
5
SUG
4
AUT
5
MOT
4
5th 46
2024 OKA
11
FUJ
6
SUZ
4
FUJ
SUZ
SUG
AUT
MOT
11th* 13*

Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. * Season still in progress.

Complete Super Formula results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Points
2015 Nakajima Racing SUZ
10
OKA
11
FUJ
Ret
MOT
15
AUT
16
SUG
18
SUZ
11
SUZ
Ret
18th 0
2016 SUZ
8
OKA
14
FUJ
14
MOT
Ret
OKA
14
OKA
18
SUG
9
SUZ
6
SUZ
5
15th 4.5

See also

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