Troy Bayliss – Ducati Xerox

Troy Bayliss will not be coming back to the World Superbike series following his recent two test sessions on the Ducati as he had decided he does not miss racing enough.

The former three-times World Championship rider said in an interview;

“I spoke too soon. Everything felt easy for me and I said that I wanted to comeback; I guess I started my own rumour. But when I tested here I found out that things weren’t going that good and we ended up going around in circles.

That’s when it hit me and it was hard things like that that I didn’t miss about racing. That completely I changed my mind I don’t want to come back racing and I don’t want to do any wild-cards. I’m retired and I’m happy.”

Bayliss may have retired from racing but he signed a contract for ‘professional services’ under which he remains a test rider for both Ducati WSB and MotoGP teams so for now the rumours can be put to bed, but for how long?

Troy Bayliss

Troy Bayliss announced his intention of a possible return to the World Superbike series earlier this month after retiring from the sport in 2008.

Bayliss hinted he could be back on track in 2011 and is being given full support from Ducati after winning his three World Superbike championship wins with the team.

The 41-year-old Australian, tested for the factory 1198 at Mugello last week to give crucial feedback to the engineers with Ducati boss Filippo Preziosi saying in an interview that all efforts to accommodate the rider if he finalises his return to the sport.

Bayliss said after the test session;

“I really enjoyed myself and I hope the feedback I have been giving the guys is useful.  I was a little worried that I’d have forgotten how to ride after the year and a half break, but it was easy and to be honest it felt like I’d never been away!”

Troy Bayliss – Ducati 1098 F08 – Monza 2008

Triple World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss, makes his debut in the V8 Supercar race this weekend at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia.

Bayliss was invited to join the Paul Morris crew after testing for them earlier in the year and will be driving alongside fellow rookie driver Dean Fiore.  Fiore finished second in the Cerrera Cup in Australia last year for the Sonic Motor Racing Services Team driving a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup.  Both Bayliss and Fiore, will be driving the #12 Commodore with a white and blue livery featuring Kitten Car Care Products.

Bayliss at least has the advantage of having ridden at the Phillip Island circuit in both the World Superbike series and the MotoGP class.

The weekend gets underway on Friday 11th September with Bayliss competing in the Sprint race on the Saturday before sharing the drive with Fiore for the 500 kilometre endurance race on Sunday.

Troy Bayliss 2008

The three times World Superbike champion title holder Troy Bayliss, has taken the next step in his motor-racing career but this time on four wheels.

The Australian has been testing with different teams in the V8 Supercar endurance series and is hoping to get a drive in this years rounds.

Bayliss said;

“It was my first time with a lot of other cars out on the track, as I haven’t done much in the V8 at all, so it was a good experience today.   I really enjoyed driving the Jack Daniel’s Commodore today and, by the second stint out there, it wasn’t looking so bad. I felt okay, ‘not too bad’ in the car.

It was a great experience. I came along yesterday and had a look at the Kelly Racing set-up. It’s a great facility, on a par with the best that I’ve seen, that’s for sure. The guys asked me along to come and do a few laps and it’s nice because it’s been a long time since I’ve been at Winton.

Everybody knows what I really want to do, I’m chasing that next step in my career, and I’d loved to be involved in the V8s – whether it’s in the main game or as a development driver. There are so many young guys who probably want to be world champions in their future, but I’m not thinking of being a world champion anymore. I’d love to be in the main game and I’d love to win some races.

But also I’d love to do the enduros and, of course, Bathurst is a very big race. It’s something that I’ve been watching for many years, so I’d love to take part in that race and do well in it.”

Troy Bayliss

Three-time World Superbike Champion Troy Bayliss, is to receive a lifetime achievement award from the city of Imola at the Italian round of the World superbike Championship at the end of September.

An event is taking place especially for the great rider, arranged by Imola circuit organisers, the city authorities and Ducati, in Imola’s main square on Saturday 26 September.

The evening will begin with a bike display in the square before a video documentary on Bayliss’s career is shown, all finished off  with a concert, all free of charge, the fans are expected to flood the city to see the legendary Ducati rider.

The 40-year-old, retired in 2008 after winning the championship for the third time.

Ben Spies – Phillip Island Qualifying

Rookie World Superbike rider Ben Spies, on the YXF R1, claimed the first Superpole of the season today, while smashing the lap record held by Troy Bayliss at the opening round at Phillip Island in Australia for the Yamaha team.

Spies set a time of 1:31.069 in the new style knock-out Superpole followed by Max Biaggi on the Aprilia, his best ever result ahead of the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda rider Jonathan Rea in third and Jakub Smrz for the Ducati Guandalini team completing the front row of the grid.

Xerox Ducati rider Michel Fabrizio starts the second row alongside British rider Leon Haslam on the Stiggy Honda, Carlos Checa on the second Hanspree Ten Kate Honda and Regis Laconi on the Ducati.

The new Superpole formula saw four of the top riders eliminated early in the session.  Troy Corser for the new BMW team was knocked out in the first round alongside Roberto Rolfo on the Stiggy Honda, Ruben Xaus on the second BMW and Tommy Hill for the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda team.

The second elimination session, saw Shinya Nakano on the brand new Aprilia, Ryuichi Kiyonari on the Ten Kate Honda, Yukio Kagayama on the Alstare Suzuki, Tom Sykes on the Yamaha, Noriyuki Haga on the Ducati Xerox, Max Neukirchner for Suzuki Alstare, Shane Byrne on the Sterilgarda Ducati, Broc Parkes on the Kawasaki and Noriyuki Haga on the Ducati Xerox all excluded.

Here are the results;

1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′31.069
2 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1′31.402
3 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′31.596
4 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1′31.600
5 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′31.837
6 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′32.112
7 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1′32.537
8 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098 RS 09 1′32.649
9 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 1′31.843
10 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1′31.860
11 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′31.867
12 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′31.881
13 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1′31.907
14 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′31.916
15 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1′32.119
16 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′32.719
17 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′32.873
18 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′32.997
19 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1′33.152
20 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′33.363
21 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 1′33.588
22 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′33.709
23 86 Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′34.174
24 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′34.194
25 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′34.341
26 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′34.390
27 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′35.767
28 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′36.363

Michel Fabrizio 2009

The World Superbike news this week is all about the riders who have been at the Phillip Island circuit for their final two day test session in Australia ahead of the opening round of the World Superbike Championship this weekend.

On the opening day, Max Neukirchner was the fastest man on the track aboard the Alstare Suzuki’s brand new GSXR-1000, while his team-mate Yukio Kagayama finished in fourth.  On the second day however, the Suzuki’s seemed to struggle with grip on their rapidly wearing tyres and concentrated on set-up.

Michel Fabrizio on the Xerox Ducati followed in second place impressing his team and looking like a serious contender for the championship title.  On day two, the 24-year-old rode the Ducati 1098R to the top of the time sheets, just three-tenths of a second slower than the circuits record.  Noriyuki Haga on the second Xerox Ducati was in fifth despite an earlier crash at the fast turn two.  Haga did exactly the same thing on day two and at the same spot and confessed to not being happy with the front end of his 1198R

The new Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies, showed impressive form on a track he had never ridden on before, while team-mate Tom Sykes took a tumble on the second day of testing, however, he was unhurt and eager for the start of the 2009 season.

Carlos Checa on the  Ten Kate Honda ended his first day of testing early after high-siding his bike and was admitted to hospital with concussion. Checa was unable to take part in the second day of testing but is expected to be fully fit for the first race.  On the second day his team-mate Britain’s Jonathan Rea had an off but fortunately was unhurt.

Not great World Superbike news for Troy Corser on the BMW, he had to cut his second day of testing short after hitting a bird on the track at 144mph.  Corser’s arm was knocked off the handle bar as the bird flew into his path as he tried desperately to avoid it and to stay on his bike.  He suffered an arm injury and was forced to sit-out of the rest of the session.  Team-mate Ruben Xaus was getting to grips with the new BMW, the first time he has competed on anything other than a Ducati since a year with Yamaha in the MotoGP series in 2005.

The 2009 season begins this weekend with the new Superpole and Flag to Flag rules.  No more of the one-lap sprint Superpole but instead a new knock-out zone for the top 20 riders.  These 20 are then reduced to 16, and then the 16 are reduced to just the 8 who will fill the front two rows of the grid.  The championship also consists of the ‘flag to flag’ procedure, with each rider having a change of bike ready in case of a wet race.

The film has been narrated by Ewan McGregor, who is said to be a big Bayliss fan and has won awards for ‘Best Documentary’ at the New York Independent Film Festival and ‘The Best Feature’ at the Los Angeles Film Festival.

It’s the story of a man who has risked everything to become a World Champion and will be released just as the season starts to heat up prior to the Red Bull Grand Prix in July.

It is said to feature some of the greatest races in recent memory, rare home videos and interviews with Troy and his family. Many of the top riders are featured in the documentary and the DVD will be available for the first time in America, a dream come true for all the Bayliss fan’s out there.

The DVD also includes 70 minutes of bonuses including a special interview with Troy, deleted scenes, additional pit and race footage, a Bayliss biography and a complete victory timeline.

In Race one, Bayliss led from the start after the race was stopped on the opening lap because of a start-line incident with Michel Fabrizio on the Ducati. The Italian had stalled and was clipped by Kenan Sofuoglu on the Ten Kate Honda before being hit from behind by Vittorio Lannuzzo which led to red flags being waved.

As the red flags were dispatched Carlos Checa backed off but unfortunately Russell Holland on the DF Honda didn’t and sent Checa tumbling and causing Ryuichi Kiyonari on the third Ten Kate Honda to practice some grass track riding to avoid the situation.

Only one rider never made the restart however, Vittorio Lannuzzo but Bayliss took the lead ahead of Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga and by lap 4 had amassed a 1 second lead with the six bikes behind fighting for second place.

Max Biaggi was up to fourth place by lap eight after having started in sixteenth on the grid. On lap ten, Biaggi passed Checa on Honda corner of all places and then passed Corser on the next lap at MG before shooting off into the distance.

Just when it looked like it was settling down, Ruben Xaus caught-up with the pack and within two laps had slipped past the riders into third place but not for long as on lap sixteen, his team mate, Biaggi, crashed coming out of the MG corner moving him up to second place, however, the Spaniard was soon under pressure from Fabrizio and Corser.

Corser had a bit of a moment on lap 18 when he came out of the seat on Doohan corner seemingly with grip problems on the tyres, however, he was unfazed and shot past the other two rides on the back straight with only three laps left to go.

The race did not go so well for Jakob Smrz who had qualified in an impressive fifth place on the Guandalini Ducati but crashed out and both PSG-1 Kawasaki riders Makoto Tamada and Regis Laconi failed to finish the race due to mechanical problems.

Results for Race One

First race:
1 T Bayliss (Aus) Ducati, 34 mins 22.933 secs
2 T Corser (Aus) Yamaha @ 4.221 secs
3 M Fabrizio (It) Ducati, @ 4.738
4 R Xaus (Sp) Ducati, @ 5.171
5 F Nieto (Sp) Suzuki, @ 5.543
6 C Checa (Sp) Honda, @ 5.895
7 M Neukirchner (Ger) Suzuki, @ 5.964
8 N Haga (Jpn) Yamaha, @ 14.826
9 R Kiyonari (Jpn) Honda, @ 18.899
10 R Rolfo (It) Honda, @ 20.633

Race Two

Troy Bayliss again led from the start but was soon passed by the Alstare Suzuki rider Fonsi Nieto who took him going into Doohan corner on lap two. The two front riders were in for a surprise as Troy Corser shot past both of them going into Honda corner to take the lead.

Another twist was however in store as Corser, Fabrizio, Smrz and Larconi were all given ride-through penalties for jump starts although Corser crashed out on lap five before he got a chance to take his.

Biaggi again making excellent progress from sixteenth on the grid he was soon putting Nieto under pressure for the second place slot at the end of the seventh lap, unfortunately he lost the rear end of his Ducati on the entry to Doohan’s corner which saw him crash out in spectacular fashion. He was quickly diagnose with a broken wrist at the medical centre.

The rest of the pack seemed to be spacing out a bit until a great battle began between Nieto, Xaus and Checa. Checa was soon back on top after an impressive move on Nieto going into Doohan’s corner on the thirteenth lap.

Results for Race Two

Second Race:
1T Bayliss (Aus), 34:35.284
2 C Checa (Sp), @ 1.127 secs
3 F Nieto (Sp), @ 4.395
4 R Xaus (Sp), @ 6.621
5 M Neukirchner (Ger), @ 11.550
6 R Kiyonari (Jpn), @ 11.620
7 N Haga (Jpn), @ 12.049
8 G Lavilla (Sp), @ 12.134
9 R Holland (Aus) Honda @ 13.462
10 K Muggeridge (Aus) @ Honda 15.519

(more…)

After putting in a time of 1:32.336 on the Italia Yamaha, Corser complained about the balance of the bike on the start/finish line which was affected by high winds.

The 36 year old, Australian said “I’m happy with the lap time, but not happy with the bike because I can’t use it the way I want to”.  “We made a change to the electonics to the start of today’s practice and it’s helped in one way, but maybe caused a problem somewhere else”.

Corser led the second place man, Troy Bayliss by just 0.38 seconds as Bayliss improved his time in the final minute of the session.

Michel Fabrizio the team-mate of Bayliss on the second Ducati and Max Neukirchner on the Alstare Suzuki made up the provisional front four.

Max Biaggi got a surprise when he was beaten to fifth slot by the Czech privateer rider, Jakob Smrz on the Guandalini Ducati despite taking a fall on the entry into the Honda corner.

Team-mate of Biaggi, Ruben Xaus was in seventh with an equal time to Biaggi’s but missed his chance of any further improvement by crashing out in the final minutes.

Régis Laconi  was in eighth putting him on the provisional second row on the Kawasaki followed by ninth and tenth place men, Fonsi Nieto, winner of the Qatar race and Carlos Checa on the Ten Kate Honda.

Makoto Tamada also crashed out but the biggest disappointment of the day was Noriyuki Haga who only managed thirteenth place