From Belgian karting champion to a 2013 Le Mans class winner and the 2022 Super GT title holder with Nissan.
Bertrand Baguette is a Belgian racing driver born on 23 February 1986. He won the 2009 Formula Renault 3.5 championship with Draco, the 2013 FIA WEC LMP2 title with OAK Racing and took the 2022 Super GT GT500 championship with Nissan.
Bertrand Baguette is a Belgian professional racing driver whose results span sports prototypes, open-wheel racing and Japanese GT racing. In 2013 he took the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the FIA World Endurance Championship LMP2 title came the same year. He became the 2022 Super GT GT500 champion with Nissan.
Who is Bertrand Baguette?
Bertrand Marcel Nicolas Baguette was born on 23 February 1986 and is a Belgian professional racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula Renault 3.5 championship and later took the 2013 FIA WEC LMP2 title, before winning the Super GT GT500 championship in 2022 after nine seasons in that class.
His career has taken him through karting, single-seater championships, sports prototypes and Japanese GT racing. Along the way he drove for several teams, including a factory role at Honda and a title-winning season with Nissan.
Baguette's career covers karting, single-seaters, sports prototypes and Japanese GT racing.
How did Baguette start in karting and single-seaters?
Baguette began karting at fourteen in the inter-provincial championship and finished fifth in Blue class karts. He moved to junior level for 2001 and later won the Belgian championship in a fourth karting year. A scholarship then secured him a seat in the 1600cc Formula Renault Belgium series.
Not every karting season went to plan. In 2002 he took part in four Intercontinental A class championships, and he earned a provincial runner-up place despite missing some events because of higher-ranked commitments in Belgian, French or European series.
His first single-seater season came in 2004 with Marc Goossens Motorsport in the Belgian Formula Renault 1600cc series. He finished third in the championship, with three wins and four poles to his name.
The next season he entered the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and the French Formula Renault 2.0 series, both with Epsilon Euskadi. He placed eighth in the European series and eleventh in the French one, with a second place at Pau among his results. The following year he finished fourth overall in the Eurocup, with five podiums and a victory at the Le Mans round, 11 points behind champion Filipe Albuquerque.
Did Baguette win the Formula Renault 3.5 title?
Yes. Baguette won the 2009 Formula Renault 3.5 Series championship with Draco, finishing 57 points ahead of Fairuz Fauzy. He scored five wins and ten podiums during the season, and he won both races at the final meeting at Ciudad del Motor de Aragon.
The title came after a steady start. Baguette had four podiums early in the year and was level on points with a rival before the Silverstone meeting. He then raised his pace in the second half of the season, building a 34-point lead with one round to go.
The earlier seasons in the series had been less decisive. In 2007 he joined KTR, the team run by Kurt Mollekens, and took two podiums in his first season. He came close to a first win at Monza before a blown tyre ended that chance. In 2008 he moved to the Italian Draco team, scored his first win at Spa and finished seventh overall.
The championship also brought a prize. He was given a test in a Renault R29 at Jerez on 1 December 2009, and a BMW Sauber F1.09 session followed on 3 December.
How did Baguette do in IndyCar and at Indianapolis?
Conquest Racing announced Baguette as the driver of its second car on 22 March 2010. He started 24th at the 2010 Indianapolis 500, but time lost in the pit lane while a loose rear-view mirror was swapped out dropped him to 22nd. His form was strongest on ovals across the season, and his best 2010 result was tenth at Kentucky, after qualifying sixth.
Without a full-time budget for 2011, Baguette drove the No. 30 car for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing at the Indianapolis 500. He had shown impressive pace in practice before qualifying on the fifth row, and he ran in the first half of the field for much of the race. On lap 189 he passed Danica Patrick to take the lead.
The race then turned on strategy. His race engineer extended a stint in the hope of a late yellow flag that would have improved the car's chances of winning. No caution came, and fuel ran short, so he had to stop three laps from the flag. He finished seventh, still his best result in IndyCar.
Did Baguette race in Formula One?
In late 2009 he tested for Renault at Jerez and, two days afterwards, for BMW Sauber. He was seen as the frontrunner to partner Robert Kubica at Renault. The seat eventually went to Vitaly Petrov instead.
Several other drivers had been mentioned for the seat before the field narrowed. Formula One therefore stayed a testing chapter in his career rather than a race chapter.
What did Baguette achieve in endurance racing?
In 2013 Baguette joined OAK Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship, driving a Morgan-Nissan in the LMP2 class with Ricardo Gonzalez and Martin Plowman. The trio won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMP2 and went on to win the 2013 championship for drivers and teams in that class.
The season opened at the 6 Hours of Silverstone, where the number 35 Morgan finished fourth in class and earned the team's first championship points. At the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps the trio took third in class. Later results included a second place at the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, behind an Oreca 03-Nissan, a pole position and class win at Fuji, and third in class at Shanghai.
The 81st running of Le Mans was held in very difficult weather, with several serious accidents and a record twelve safety car periods. The Morgan completed 329 laps and finished seventh overall, and won the LMP2 class.
The Fuji race ran under difficult weather, with a two-hour delay, and half points were awarded. The team then carried a 15-point lead into Bahrain, where they qualified sixth and finished fourth in class to take the drivers' and teams' titles.
Super GT with Honda and Nakajima Racing
From 2014 Baguette was a factory driver with Honda, racing in Super GT in Japan. From 2014 to 2018 he drove for Epson Nakajima Racing in the GT500 class, first alongside Daisuke Nakajima and then with Kosuke Matsuura. Dunlop rubber set the team apart: its Honda was the lone GT500 entry on those tyres, and the brand usually trailed rival makes for pace.
Baguette scored his first Super GT podium in 2014, at the fifth round at Fuji Speedway. In 2017 he and Matsuura won the Suzuka 1000km, a race widely regarded as the biggest in Japan. It was the final edition at that distance, and the last to appear on the Super GT schedule.
For 2019 Baguette switched to Keihin Real Racing's Honda, car 17, on Bridgestone rubber, partnered by Koudai Tsukakoshi. That season brought two pole positions and one podium, but no wins.
What did the 2022 Super GT title involve?
Baguette and Kazuki Hiramine took the 2022 Super GT GT500 title for Nissan, driving the Calsonic-liveried No. 12 car for Team Impul. The brand new 400Z was taking part in the top class for the first time that year. The title was decided on 70.5 points, 4.5 points ahead of the No. 3 Nismo Z.
The crown was the first for Kazuyoshi Hoshino's squad since 1995. For Baguette it was his first GT500 title after nine seasons competing in the class. During the year the pair fought at the front of the field and scored four podiums.
The move was part of a seat swap. Nobuharu Matsushita took the place that Baguette vacated on the No. 17 Real Racing Honda. For 2023 Nissan kept the same line-up, and Baguette and Hiramine returned to defend the title in the No. 1 Calsonic Z.
The fifth round at Suzuka produced the season's win. Baguette and Hiramine started from the back of the grid and passed the No. 17 Astema NSX for the lead, three laps from the end.
Which seasons came before the Nissan title?
Baguette's years with Honda produced four wins, seven podiums and two pole positions over eight seasons. In 2020 he and Tsukakoshi won at Fuji and Motegi and ended the year third in the standings, ten points adrift of the No. 100 Team Kunimitsu car. Both 2020 wins followed the same pattern: Baguette started second, overtook the leader during his stint, and Tsukakoshi then drove to the flag without mistakes. In 2021 they won the Fuji 500 km after starting eleventh.
The 2020 season was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. Pre-season tests at Okayama in March had produced the fastest overall time, but the season was put on hold and began only in July. Baguette nearly missed the opening race because Japan's entry restrictions for foreigners applied to him, but his visa arrived in time.
The 2021 title was still in reach at the final round. Going into the final round they were eight points down, but early contact ended their race and left them sixth overall. They also added a podium at Sugo and two more top-five finishes. Baguette then said he was leaving Honda once that season ended.
Super Formula and other categories
Alongside Super GT, Baguette competed in Japan's Super Formula championship in 2015 and 2016. His top finish was fifth, in the closing race of 2016 at Suzuka, in a Honda-powered car fielded by Nakajima Racing.
Career summary
| Year | Series | Team | Highlight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Belgian Formula Renault 1600cc | Marc Goossens Motorsport | Third in championship, three wins |
| 2009 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series | Draco | Champion by 57 points |
| 2010 | IndyCar Series | Conquest Racing | Best finish tenth at Kentucky |
| 2011 | IndyCar Series | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Seventh at the Indianapolis 500 |
| 2013 | FIA World Endurance Championship, LMP2 | OAK Racing | Drivers and teams champion |
| 2013 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | OAK Racing | LMP2 class win |
| 2017 | Super GT | Epson Nakajima Racing | Suzuka 1000km winner |
| 2020 | Super GT | Keihin Real Racing | Two wins, third in championship |
| 2022 | Super GT | Team Impul | GT500 champion |
What is Baguette's legacy?
Baguette's career covers karting, single-seaters, sports prototypes and Japanese GT racing. His titles include the 2009 Formula Renault 3.5 championship, the 2013 FIA WEC LMP2 drivers and teams crown and the 2022 Super GT GT500 championship. He also won the 2013 Le Mans class and the 2017 Suzuka 1000km.
His results span several teams and categories. The record shows a clear sequence: national karting, then Formula Renault and Formula Renault 3.5, then IndyCar and endurance racing, and finally Super GT with Honda and Nissan. The Le Mans victory came in his first season with OAK Racing in the WEC, while the Super GT title came after eight years with Honda and one season with Team Impul.
