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.

Shane Byrne

The World Superbike teams ended their first three-day test session of the season on Sunday at the Parkalgar circuit in Portugal.

On Thursday, the Formula One testing session had to cancelled when extreme weather conditions deemed the track too dangerous with standing water and poor visibility.

The riders faced full wet conditions for the Friday morning slot but the track did begin to dry out for the afternoon, seeing Shane Byrne set the fastest times in both wet and dry sessions on the Sterilgarda Ducati.

Byrne was passed later in the session by Michel Fabrizio on the Ducati Xerox and Ben Spies on the Yamaha World superbike, but held the upper hand by the end of the day.

Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus, were on track to swing their legs over the new BMW S1000 RR for the first time, testing alongside a total of 25 other riders at the circuit, all of who went quicker in the drying conditions in the afternoon.

Byrne’s led the timesheets again on the second day of testing, beating the previous track record of Troy Bayliss, and not even on qualifying tyres.  Quite impressive for a privateer in his first full season in World Superbikes.

For the third and final day of testing the dismal weather conditions returned and only two of the riders improved on their times, Troy Corser and Max Biaggi.

All the riders became familiar with the new Superpole qualifying rules on the final day as each of them was given a trial run.

There will now be 20 riders in the qualifying group, which will then be brought down to 16, and then finally to just 8, to determine the pole setter.

The only other main rule changes for this season include a switch to ‘flag-to-flag’, this is where a change of bike is allowed if it rains during the race.

Most of the teams and riders will now move-on to Phillip Island to prepare for the opening round of the World Superbike Championship which starts on 1st March in Australia.

Here are the overall best times for the third day of practice;

Pos – Rider – Team – Best Time

1 – Shane Byrne – Sterilgarda – 1′43.294
2 – Ben Spies – Yamaha World Superbike – 1′43.484
3 – Noriyuki Haga – Ducati Xerox Team – 1′43.487
4 – Tom Sykes – Yamaha World Superbike – 1′43.546
5 – Carlos Checa – HANNspree Ten Kate Honda – 1′43.657
6 – Max Neukirchner – Suzuki Alstare – 1′43.674
7 – Jakub Smrz – Guandalini Racing – 1′43.767
8 – Michel Fabrizio – Ducati Xerox Team – 1′43.951
9 – Jonathan Rea – HANNspree Ten Kate Honda – 1′44.115
10 – Leon Haslam – Stiggy Racing Honda – 1′44.170
11 – Troy Corser – BMW Motorrad Team Alpha R. – 1′44.261
12 – Yukio Kagayama – Suzuki Alstare – 1′44.425
13 – Régis Laconi – DFX Corse – 1′44.546
14 – Ryuichi Kiyonari – Ten Kate Honda Racing – 1′44.610
15 – Broc Parkes – Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. – 1′44.704
16 – Alessandro Polita – Sterilgarda – 1′45.108
17 – Shinya Nakano – Aprilia Racing – 1′45.179
18 – Max Biaggi – Aprilia Racing – 1′45.199
19 – Brendan Roberts – Guandalini Racing – 1′45.278
20 – David Salom – Team Pedercini – 1′45.393
21 – Makoto Tamada – Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. – 1′45.446
22 – Gregorio Lavilla – Pro Ride World Superbike – 1′45.672
23 – Tommy Hill – HANNspree Honda Althea – 1′45.679
24 – Luca Scassa – Team Pedercini – 1′45.820
25 – Ruben Xaus – BMW Motorrad Team Alpha R – 1′46.128
26 – Roberto Rolfo – Stiggy Racing Honda – 1′46.916
27 – Vittorio Iannuzzo – Squadra Corse Italia – 1′46.971

Ryuichi Kiyonari(23) & Noriyuki Haga(41) Brands Hatch 2008

As Moto GP appears to be heading into the doldrums, sporting it’s smallest grid of riders ever and with talk from the sports governing body, the FIM, of introducing cost cutting measures to ensure a future for the sport, it is reassuring to see that World Superbike appears to be bucking the trend, going from strength to strength.

In the latest World Superbike news the 2009 series will have at least 32 riders competing for the championship title, according to the entry list published by the FIM today. To rub salt into the Moto GP wound, following the withdrawal of the factory Kawasaki from that series, WSB welcomes two new manufacturers to it’s championship in the form of BMW and Aprilia.

The 32 strong field is expected to be further bolstered by wild card entries throughout the season, with speculation that among other’s, moto gp 250 champion Marco Simoncelli and even the man himself, Valentino Rossi may appear in WSB at some stage during the year.

While those rumours seem unlikely to materialise, it is not really important, as there is more talent on show in WSB than you can shake a stick at. A total of nineteen teams, racing seven different bikes will battle it out for the WSB title in a series that Rossi sees as ‘more fun than motogp’.

Interestingly, Kawasaki remain in the WSB series, but the big three from last years championship Ducati, Yamaha and Honda remain favourites for top honours again this year.

‘Nitro’ Noriyuki Haga replaces the retired 2008 world champion Troy Bayliss on the Ducati Xerox alongside team mate Michel Fabrizio, while their closest rivals in last years championship, Yamaha, introduce the rookie pairing of Tom Sykes and Ben Spies to WSB. Rookies they maybe but a lot is being expected from this partnership of potential champions.

Honda will have three riders, all capable of top honours in Ryuichi Kiyonari, Carlos Checa and Jonathan Rea.  Newcomers BMW have the experience of Ruben Xaus and Troy Corser, while Aprilia have the explosive duo of Shinya Nakano and Max Biaggi.

Recent World Superbike news rumours a merger between the two World Championships of WSB and Moto GP, something that has so far been dismissed for the foreseeable future, but if the financial crisis continues to worsen, who knows what might happen in future years.

Spies says in an interview with MCN;

“I would have liked to have raced with Bayliss because he’s the best World Superbike guy out there. But for my first year in the series and the fact that I’ve got to learn new tracks then maybe it’s better that he’s not here!. Bayliss has been one of my favourite riders for a long time and I wish I’d have been able to share the track with him to see how I’d go.”