MotoGP exile Loris Baz looks set to join a scaled-down, one-rider Althea BMW effort to contest the 2018 WorldSBK series.

The Frenchman will leave the Avintia Ducati MotoGP squad this Sunday after Xavier Simeon’s wallet jumped into his chair and he returns to WorldSBK where he last raced for the works-backed Kawasaki team in 2014 alongside Tom Sykes.

He experienced a rocky relationship with Sykes that year on his way to fifth in the championship before heading to MotoGP with the Forward Racing team in 2015. It is thought that Genesio Bevilaqua’s Althea outfit will only run one bike in 2018.

Baz had been in the frame to sign for both MV Agusta and Red Bull Honda but was beaten to the former by Jordi Torres, the man he will replace at Althea. Honda appear to be giving Stefan Bradl another chance.