Nissan impressed by Baguette's progression through 2022

Baguette joined Kazuki Hiramine at Nissan squad Team Impul at the start of the year, and the pair delivered the Yokohama marque its first GT500 title in seven years in the first season for the new Z GT500 car.

Key to Impul's success in this month's Motegi season finale was Baguette achieving the #12 car's best grid position of third, one place ahead of the NDDP Nissan of chief title rivals Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi.

That and a strong opening lap set the foundations for Baguette and Hiramine to finish second and end an Impul title drought dating back to 1995.

Reflecting on newcomer Baguette's performance in 2022, NISMO COO Motohiro Matsumura remarked on how the Belgian driver had improved, adding he expects an even stronger showing next season.

"When we changed the drivers of the #12 car, we detected some good points and also gave [Baguette] some ‘homework’ to do during the season," Matsumura told Motorsport.com.

"And at the end of the season he performed much better than he did at the start, as he gradually became familiar with the characteristics of our car.

"There are still some areas where he could improve the operation of some devices, like the brakes; he can reach an even higher level, I believe.

"That’s why, during the off-season, we’ll communicate closely and he can have an even better performance."

 

Prior to joining Nissan, Baguette had spent eight seasons as part of the Honda stable, firstly at Nakajima Racing and then Real Racing, coming close to the title in 2020 alongside Koudai Tsukakoshi.

The 36-year-old said his qualifying performance at Motegi gave him vindication that he had finally been able to master the intricacies of the Z.

"It was quite hard to be honest," Baguette told Motorsport.com. "Honda has its strong points, but the Nissan has different strong points, so I was driving to exploit the Honda strong points and this wasn’t suiting the Nissan so well.

"I had to change some things, move more towards the driving style that Kazuki was doing. In the races I was fast straight away, but I was struggling a bit on one lap in qualifying.

"So to qualify P3 [for the final race] made me really happy as it showed I made a lot of progress on that matter and I finally understood how to drive the car quick over one lap."

Baguette was also eager to praise the contribution of Kazuki Hoshino, the son of Impul owner and founder Kazuyoshi, to the squad's success following his retirement as a driver at the end of 2021.

"He is with us at every meeting, when we have to choose the tyre, decide the strategy, when we speak about set-up," said Baguette of Hoshino Jr. "He shares his advice, he tells us what he thinks we should do and then we can take it or not.

 

"Every time he sees something that is wrong, or good, in his mind, he comes straight away to tell us. When I had some issues at the beginning with my one-lap speed he came to help me and gave me some advice, as an ex-driver.

"He is really helpful and he is always giving a positive push to the team, to us drivers and to the engineers."