WSBK: Bayliss Bows Out With Portimao Double

Troy Bayliss ended his glittering career at the top, with a crushing double victory in the final World Superbike meeting of the year at the new Portimao track in Portugal, having started from pole position.

The Portimao racetrack is so new that grass has not yet grown on some of its earth banks. However, it has all the character of a decades-old British or American track. There are twists, turns and elevation changes everywhere, making this track seem like a tarmac rollercoaster. Troy Bayliss described Portimao as being "like Oulton Park with runoff", with other riders comparing it to Brands Hatch. With the modern tendency towards building "Formula One tracks", i.e. boring, flat, featureless circuits built in the vain hope of making F1 cars overtake, it is astonishing to see that the Portuguese have gone against the trend to build a truly magnificent bike track. Virtually all of the racers heaped praise on the new circuit, and it brought us some brilliant racing. How appropriate that such an all-action track should have a corner named after Craig Jones.

Race One
Bayliss made a perfect start on the Xerox Ducati, leading into the first corner and disappearing into the wide blue yonder. The track was greasy after the previous day's torrential rainfall, and although some riders started to beat Troy's lap times towards the end of the race, the Australian was long gone. There is little to say about his race except that it was a display of utter dominance from the newly crowned champion. While Bayliss lapped alone in front, the real action took place in the chasing pack.

Wildcard rider Cal Crutchlow made an excellent start on his HM Plant Honda, but tried to challenge Bayliss for the lead and was pushed a little wide in the first turn. This allowed Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's Jonathan Rea, Sterilgarda Ducati's Ruben Xaus and Santander Yamaha's Troy Corser to surge past the Englishman. Michel Fabrizio had made a respectable start on the second Xerox Ducati bike, and was challenging Sterilgarda Ducati's Max Biaggi when the pair tangled and went down just a few corners into the race. The tiny Roman Emperor was furious with his young compatriot, and there was a hilarious moment when Max charged over to Fabrizio, grabbing him by the crash helmet and shaking it angrily.

It would be impossible to give a detailed account of the race for second place as the pack was shuffled on virtually every lap, but here are the highlights. The leading pack of Xaus, Corser, Rea and Crutchlow beat each other up like their lives depended on it. Xaus was especially vigorous in overtaking the young British riders, leading to some real hair-raising moments. Crutchlow moved to the head of the pack and seemed to be pulling away, but only for a few corners before he was hauled back into the scrum. All of this was slowing the riders down, and the next group of HM Plant Honda wildcard Leon Haslam, Hannspree Honda veteran Carlos Checa and Santander Yamaha nutter Noriyuki Haga caught up to make an insane seven bike freight train.

Rea and Crutchlow were both riding very aggressively, and both made small mistakes that lost them several places. Crutchlow would eventually drop out with a destroyed rear tyre. Checa and Haga were the men on the move. Leon Haslam was holding second place when Haga arrived. The Japanese star showed his young rival no quarter, elbowing him off the racing line onto the greasy area of the tarmac, where he would lose a few places before finding some grip. Haga was then enveloped in a fight with Checa and Corser, but the Japanese Samurai of Slide was forced to retire with a gearbox problem. Checa was now the fastest man in the race, but even with a badly worn rear tyre, Bayliss held an insurmountable lead to the chequered flag, and the Spaniard had to settle for second place, with Corser third...

Read the rest of my Portimao WSBK report at Motorbikesport.

WSBK: Magny Cours Goes Baylisstic

Noriyuki Haga and Troy Bayliss shared the spoils as the World Superbike championship visited Magny Cours, France. A podium finish in the first race was all it took for Bayliss to lift his third World Superbike title. Haga had taken pole position for the meeting, ahead of Fonsi Nieto, Bayliss and Carlos Checa. Troy Corser, who started the day with a mathematical chance of winning the championship, started 12th after falling in Superpole.

Race 1
Troy Bayliss made his usual "Baylisstic" start to lead the field into turn one on his Xerox Ducati, ahead of Alstare Suzuki's Fonsi Nieto, Noriyuki Haga on a Santander Yamaha and Carlos Checa on his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda. It was Haga who made the first move, snatching second place from Nieto just a few corners into the race. The Japanese star was on a mission to carry on his excellent run of form, having taken a double win at the previous round. He passed Troy Bayliss into the hairpin on the second lap to take the lead. With Haga now starting to stretch out a bit of a gap to Bayliss, his Santander Yamaha team-mate Troy Corser was storming through the field. The Aussie had started 12th after lowsiding out of his Superpole lap when he was on course for a front row start, and was already fighting for sixth place.

Haga's lead was shrinking slightly as Bayliss closed in on him, with Fonsi Nieto hanging onto the Aussie's coat tails. A little way behind, Carlos Checa was in fourth, holding off Max Neukirchner on the second Alstare Suzuki and Michel Fabrizio on the second Xerox Ducati. There was another burst of activity on the fourth lap. Carlos Checa went into the hairpin completely crossed up, but managed to make the turn and soon overtook his fellow Spaniard Fonsi Nieto for third place. Fabrizio passed Neukirchner then Nieto and Checa to slot into third place behind his team-mate, the young Italian Ducati rider seemingly having one of his randomly selected good races.

Spurred on by the fact that it is contract time and he has no contract, Fonsi Nieto was showing the kind of form that has eluded him for months. He passed Carlos Checa using the rocketship straight line performance of the Suzuki to re-take fourth place, then Fabrizio for third, and finally started battling with Troy Bayliss for second position. Nieto outbraked the Aussie at the hairpin, but the wily Ducatista cut back inside to hold his place. Nieto managed to make a move stick, and Bayliss settled for a podium position, unwilling to be taken out by a rider in "contract or straw bales" mode. To compound Carlos Checa's misery at being passed by his lesser-rated countryman, he was pushed back to sixth place by Max Biaggi. Although Roby Rolfo had qualified well (having no contract for next year either) he was racing poorly, and was forced to retire when his Honda started spewing smoke. Four laps before the end of the race, Michel Fabrizio departed in spectacular style from fourth position, sliding off in a shower of sparks in turn two.

Noriyuki Haga won the race comfortably, joined on the podium by Fonsi Nieto and Troy Bayliss. Third position was enough for Bayliss to win the World Superbike title for the third time, on a third type of Ducati.

Read the rest of my World Superbikes Magny Cours race review at Motorbikesport.

WSBK: Bayliss and Kiyo Win At Soggy Donington

Troy Bayliss and Ryuichi Kiyonari took the victories in the European round of the World Superbike championship at Donington Park. The British wildcards also put in a strong showing in the changeable weather conditions.

Race 1
Although the weather was unpredictable from one minute to the next, it was surprisingly dry when the first race started. Former British Superbike champion Ryuichi Kiyonari took the lead on his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda. BSB regular Tom Sykes briefly took second place on his Rizla Suzuki, but was soon overtaken by Troy Bayliss on the Xerox Ducati, who was determined to finally score a victory on his last ever visit to the track. Bayliss took the lead when Kiyonari pushed too hard on the greasy track and lowsided out of the race at the Old Hairpin. Sykes was not prepared to watch the Australian disappear, and he passed Bayliss, then proceeded to pull out a lead of over three seconds.

Unfortunately, Santander Yamaha rider Noriyuki Haga was having one of his bad weekends. His engine blew up and started spewing smoke. Incredibly, the Japanese star did not pull over, but trundled round for most of the lap, even though he had clearly seen the blue smoke pouring from the bike. As he rounded Coppice corner, treacherous enough in the dry, some oil leaked out onto the track. It was invisible in the damp conditions, and riders started flying over handlebars like some kind of rodeo competition. Troy Corser highsided for approximately the sixth time of the weekend, and stumbled off in great pain. Makoto Tamada, who has been all but invisible on the Kawasaki this year, decided that he would like to feature in a few more crash videos. The ex-MotoGP race winner flew off his bike in a massive highside that saw the green machine flip expensively over and over. Carlos Checa joined in the fun with his second crash of the race (what can you say? The guy has class). Alstare Suzuki star Max Neukirchner dared to be different by falling off at another corner.

The race was red-flagged, and everybody who had fallen off was barred from re-starting. We would have an aggregate race! The times from the two halves of the race would be added together, meaning that the positions on track did not necessarily bear any relation to the positions in the official standings. Woo-hoo!


That was the taster. Read my whole review of the Donington Park round of the World Superbike championship at Motorbikesport to find out what happened in the second part of race 1, and in the wet race 2.

WSBK: Silly Search for Bayliss Replacement

World Superbikes usually has a good silly season, but the search for the new Troy Bayliss just keeps getting sillier and sillier. The Aussie star leads the championship on his Xerox Ducati 1098F08, but has finally decided that he will retire at the end of the year.

The trouble with replacing Bayliss is that he's one of the best riders in the history of Superbike. Choosing between him and Ducati's other WSBK legend Carl Fogarty is largely a matter of whether you prefer laid-back Australians loved by all, or arrogant Englishmen who get up everyone's hooter. As riders, Bayliss and Foggy are World Superbike gods, with records that others can only dream of.

So it's not just a case of replacing a quick rider, it's a case of replacing a superhero. You can't replace a superhero with some guy who will probably win the odd race, you need to find somebody who will win championships. The team's number 2 rider is expected to be a young Italian who is quick but erratic. Michel Fabrizio currently fills that position and is almost certain to stay next year.

Let's look at the riders who have been linked with the number 1 Ducati ride for next year:

Shane "Shakey" Byrne
Currently winning the British Superbike series at a canter on a Ducati 1098, Shakey is experienced, with some MotoGP races under his belt on the atrocious Aprilia and Roberts-KTM machines. In the last couple of years in BSB on 4-cylinder Japanese bikes, he spent half his time crawling off the track with concussion (though the time that the front brake calliper fell off his Rizla Suzuki and he had to jump off the bike at 170mph wasn't his fault!) He just seems to click with Ducatis, having won the BSB title and a couple of races as a WSBK wildcard back in the day. He is head and shoulders above anyone else in BSB this year and looks like he was born to ride the 1098. On the downside, he doesn't know the WSBK tracks. In with a decent chance, and would be my choice to replace Bayliss.

Max Biaggi
This season, The Roman Emperor is riding a Ducati in WSBK for the 2nd-string Sterilgarda team, and he's not exactly setting the heather alight either. Ludicrously parted with Suzuki over wage issues despite almost winning the title last year. On the plus side, he's extremely quick when he feels like it and is a 4-time 250cc World Champion. On the downside, he keeps falling out with teams. And Ducati only ever win the WSBK title with British and Australian riders (Foggy, Bayliss, Hodgson, Toseland, Bayliss again) so an Italian won't be much use. Still, in with a good chance because it's an Italian team and he's Max Biaggi.

Chris Vermeulen
Having a hit and miss season with Suzuki in MotoGP, but seems to have staked his claim for another year at Suzuki (though there are rumours that he will have to take a pay cut). World Superbike, even the prestigious factory Ducati ride, would be a step down for Vermeulen, so he will almost certainly try to stay in MotoGP. As a former Ten Kate rider in WSBK and WSS, he knows most of the tracks. Would be an excellent choice if his MotoGP dreams all fall through, but it looks pretty unlikely.

Michel Fabrizio
There is a possibility that Fabrizio might be promoted to team leader alongside up and coming Italian Niccolo Canepa. So then there would be two erratic young Italians failing to win the WSBK title for Xerox Ducati. It is also said that Ducati want to get Canepa on the career-killing Alice Ducati MotoGP bike to groom him for the future. Fabrizio as number one Ducati in WSBK is unlikely, but with team politics being what they are, who knows?

Ben Spies
Getting pretty silly now. The Texan is the latest big name rider to be linked with Ducati, however his pay demands are truly ludicrous. He earns more than half the MotoGP paddock, and possibly more than anyone in WSBK. This is because he has won the truly worthless AMA Superbike title, where the wages are obscene and the racing is utterly non-existent. He doesn't want to take a pay cut just to race in some foreign race series, even though AMA Superbike is currently in the process of disappearing up its own crevice and re-emerging as 600cc SuperStock with bells on, which may kill off all the factory teams. Spies would be a fascinating choice for the ex-Bayliss ride, but there isn't a hope in hell of it happening unless he re-thinks his love of filthy lucre. Maybe he will show up in WSBK at some point, when AMA SBK is in tatters and all of the garage doors in MotoGP are firmly shut...

WSBK Baylisstic at Brno

Troy Bayliss extended his lead in the World Superbike Championship with a double victory at Brno in the Czech Republic, having started his Xerox Ducati from pole position.

Race 1
Max Biaggi has won many times at Brno on many different bikes, and nearly fell off the back of one over the finish line in one of those Youtube moments. It was the little Roman Emperor who led into the first corner on the Sterilgarda Ducati. Next up was Troy Corser on the Santander Yamaha, the veteran Aussie seemingly on a major charge now that he is negotiating for a lucrative BMW contract for next year. Corser has to show that he still has the racing mentality to go with his legendary bike development skills, and persuade the Beemer executives to stick plenty of zeroes on his paycheck. Polesitter Troy Bayliss and his young team-mate Michel Fabrizio were following close behind as the leading four bikes quickly dropped the rest of the pack...

Read the rest of my report for the WSBK races from Brno at Motorbikesport.co.uk, where my race reviews for this weekend's action are appearing. It's a site with news, reviews, a forum and all the great galleries you'd expect from a site run by a pro photographer.

WSBK Assen: Battered Bayliss Brilliant

Troy Bayliss was riding injured at Assen, having clipped a drainage cover on his bicycle while zooming downhill with his hands off the bars and landed on his rear end in the gutter. You'd never know from his pace, because the Aussie's still got it. Not in the Alex Barros version of a veteran rider still having it, where he's quick when the Moon is in Capricorn and the wind is blowing from the North-Northwest. He's still got it in a championship-winning kind of way.

Bayliss is hot favourite for this year's World Superbike title, leading by 70 points. His main rivals are nowhere. Nori Haga managed to punt himself and Ruben Xaus off the track in race 1 (when was the last time that Xaus fell off and it wasn't his fault?), and could only trail in 2nd in race 2. The Japanese rider has simply racked up too many DNF's to be any kind of threat to Bayliss. Max Biaggi is still suffering from the broken wrist he suffered in his monster Phillip Island crash. The Roman Emperor did better than expected at Assen, which is notoriously physical due to the high speed corners and chicanes, but his title challenge is now very weak. Carlos Checa is quick, but somehow not entirely convincing as a title challenger.

Eurosport's TV commentary duo, the hilarious pairing of Jack Burnicle and James Whitham, summed it up with one of their typical exchanges, when Burnicle pointed out that Ten Kate Honda haven't been doing too well this year:

Whitham: That's because they don't have Toseland this year.
Burnicle: They have Carlos Checa.
Whitham: Exactly.

Max Neukirchner (can't believe I manage to spell that first time) has hit a fine run of form since joining the Alstare Suzuki team and acquiring one of their factory-backed missiles. The German might have been rammed by part-time idiot Checa last time out, but he has recovered well and still threatens to take a race win some time this year.

Yukio Kagayama led race 1 for a while, before having a huge moment in the final chicane. Yukio is always terrifying to watch, as he keeps on crashing and usually manages to hurt himself. Somehow he stayed on the bike after being halfway over the highside, but could only take 4th.

Really, it was all about Bayliss. This is his last year of World Supers, and he's still an absolute hero. Not just one of the quickest riders around, he's also one of the gutsiest, and easily the most likeable. His team-mate Michel Fabrizio had an awful day, suffering from some kind of arm problem that requires an operation. What the hell are Ducati going to do when Troy retires?

WSBK Phillip Island: Baylisstic Crashfest

The makers of motorcycle crash videos must be rubbing their hands with glee after a day of sheer carnage at Phillip Island when the World Superbikes came a-calling. Troy Bayliss emerged from the smoking wreckage around him with a dominant double victory. Here is an account of the various crashes.

Race one opened with a massive crash on the start line as Michel Fabrizio failed to get his Ducati off the front row. Instead of waving his arms around like we would expect from any self-respecting Italian, he just stood there and waited to be hit. And that's what happened. A couple of bikes narrowly missed him, but the hapless Vittorio Iannuzzo couldn't see the stalled Ducati until the last millisecond, and slammed into the back of it. Iannuzzo was lucky not to get squished by his bike, but was carted off in an ambulance with a badly broken wrist, while Fabrizio was left hopping around on one foot. Incredibly, the crash had ripped his boot off but left him with nothing more than nasty bruising to his calf muscle.

When the red flags came out, Carlos Checa slowed slightly at the top of Lukey Heights, but then he too was rear-ended by Russel Holland. The Aussie had done well in Superpole and made a decent start, but he didn't clock that Carlos was easing off. The resulting crash was enormous, with Checa flipped off his bike into the air. Luckily both riders were able to make the restart, along with the limping Fabrizio.

The restarted race one saw Bayliss win easily. The only person who really looked to have the pace to challenge was Max Biaggi, who had started from 16th because the gear shifter fell off on his outlap in Superpole. Max sliced through the field, but unfortunately got a bit too excited and fell off from 2nd place. Troy Corser fought through to snatch 2nd, while the heroic Fabrizio took an excellent 3rd place, and promptly started hamming up his injury for the cameras.

Race two started fairly uneventfully, in that nobody was taken to hospital before the end of lap 1. Troy Corser jumped the start horribly, but didn't come in for his ride-through penalty, claiming that the black flag board had a pair of number ones in two different fonts that didn't look like a number eleven. Nice excuse, but he didn't get to try it out on the race stewards because he flew off the track at turn 2, saying that there was fluid on the track. Fabrizio was amongst the riders spooked into jumping the start by Corser, but he did manage to stay on the bike long enough to suffer a ride-through.

Max Biaggi again managed to devastate the field from his lowly grid spot, but then conjured up a truly terrifying crash at turn one, which is officially more frightening than watching "Halloween" with one eyeball and old footage of Maggie Thatcher with the other. Trying to pass Fonsi Nieto's Suzuki drag-bike on the start-finish straight, Max got very, very close and had to grab a lot more front brake than he would have liked. The rear wheel lifted off the ground, the bike started to slew sideways and suddenly Max was sliding across the grass at well over 100mph. The magnificent Ducati 1098R started tumbling, and leapt a good 10 feet into the air, completely destroying itself but managing to avoid squidging its rider into seagull food. The Roman Emperor escaped with a suspected fractured wrist, and will be glad that the next race is a month away.

Troy Bayliss won race 2 in similar style to race 1, leading no less than 3 Spaniards to the line: Checa, Nieto and Xaus. Surprisingly it was Xaus who was beaten up by the others, being on the wrong end of several dodgy overtaking moves. Carlos Checa did brilliantly considering the enormous crash he had earlier in the day, showing that he isn't fazed by the lowish grip Pirelli control tyre (but this is the guy that did so well on the awful Dunlop MotoGP tyre a couple of years back). Fonsi Nieto kept up his impressive start to the season and is 2nd in the championship, albeit 27 points behind Bayliss.

Bayliss is still a superhero around Phillip Island, and the Ducati is ludicrously fast (though a few clicks slower than the fours down the straights). Biaggi was the big surprise, falling off everywhere and scoring nul points while his team-mate, Ruben Xaus of all people, stayed on track with a pair of 4ths and is 3rd in the title race. It's going to be interesting to see what happens at the tight, twisty (i.e. Ducati) track at Valencia, where Crazy Catalan Xaus scored a victory last year...

WSBK Qatar: Bayliss As Usual, Fonsi Who?

An utterly brilliant start to the World Superbike season at Qatar. The track might be dull and featureless, but it brought some fantastic racing. Here are a few thoughts about the Losail meeting.

Troy Bayliss
Yep, he's still got it. The ultimate Superbike racer (shaddup, Foggy fans!) was outstanding in race one. He was miles down the field but kept clawing away. When he reached the pointy end, he decided to start exploring the scenery, bouncing over the astroturf several times. If there had been any spectators, they would have been singing "Are you Ruben in disguise?" His team boss Davide Tardozzi was having kittens on the pitwall, jumping around begging Troy to slow down. No chance! Narrowly beating Max Biaggi to the line, Bayliss gave the Ducati 1098R its debut win and kept up his incredible 1 in 3 victory record. Race two was forgettable for the Aussie, so let's forget it. He's leading the championship. The guy's amazing.

Max Biaggi
Looking good in his badass black leathers, Max was on great form. He kept charging into corners, realizing he couldn't quite stop in time, and running wide. He did that in the last corner of race one trying to pass Bayliss, and could only finish 2nd. Race two saw him on the podium again, but beaten by his team-mate Xaus. Still, he's 2nd in the championship and was right on the pace, on yet another type of motorcycle. He'll surely take some wins this year. Plus, he made a couple of highly entertaining hard moves on his rivals.

Fonsi Nieto
Who? You mean the rubbish guy on the Kwaka? Nope, I mean the quick guy on the Suzuki who's 3rd in the championship. It looks like Fonsi is actually a half decent rider. His performance in race two was flawless when he took his well deserved debut WSBK victory. (Though he was AWOL in race one.)

Ruben Xaus
The chaotic Catalan was great to watch. Having Biaggi for a team-mate makes you realize just how huge Xaus is (he could run 17 feet wide of a corner and his knee would still clip the apex) and he always provides top quality entertainment. His well-deserved 2nd place in race 2 bodes well for this year.

Noriyuki Haga
Unbelievable. Seriously!
Picture the scene. It's race one. Max Biaggi has forced past Nori Haga in a firm but fair manoeuvre and parked on the apex. Haga nearly hits the back of Max, then completely loses his mind. Nori takes his left hand off the bars to remonstrate, only to suffer an enormous highside and land on the top of his head, completely upside-down. What on earth was he thinking? It was entirely his own stupid fault. Still, he was OK and it was hilarious to watch.

Ducati
The new Ducati 1098R was brilliant straight from the box. It wasn't as quick as the fours down the straight (though it was pretty quick with the little Roman Emperor on board) but it's a hell of a machine.

Suzuki
Francis Batta was livid about Ducati getting a 200cc capacity advantage this year, so he just taped a couple of wheels onto a space rocket and sprayed it yellow. The Suzuki is jaw-droppingly quick in a straight line, and not too shabby round corners either.

Yamaha
Like last year, the Yam was hugely quick but didn't last the distance. Corser was on pole (for a change) and both he and Haga led the races at some point. They'll get better as the year progresses.

Honda
Oops, they've done it again! Last year's 800cc MotoGP Honda was just awful. So how is this year's brand new Honda Fireblade Superbike? I'll give you a hint, its engine note sounds like this: "Grrrr!!! Woof! Woof! Bowowow!!!" Yep, it's terrible, but if anybody can sort it out, it's the Ten Kate brothers. To top it off, Honda stupidly put Ryuichi Kiyonari in WSBK on Pirellis, despite him being the only Japanese rider who can win on Michelin tyres. Japanese riders hate changing tyre brands, and Kiyo was unsurprisingly terrible on the unfamiliar rubber, in other words "doing a Tamada" or "doing a Nakano".

Overall
A great start to the season for WSBK. The 4 and 2-cylinder bikes are very closely matched, and the racing was edge of the seat stuff. It looks like another vintage year.

WSBK Vallelunga: Max and Troy B. Masterclass

The World Superbike Championship's first visit to Vallelunga produced some of the best racing of the year, thanks to the track layout. With Valellunga being just north of Rome, the place was bedecked with Biaggi banners and stuffed with the Roman Emperor's fans.

In Superpole, championship leader James Toseland was half way round a blisteringly quick lap when he hit a bump, his Ten Kate Honda started chattering and spat him off before swerving head first into a wall and trashing itself. Toseland would start 8th, while Troy Bayliss took pole on his Xerox Ducati ahead of Corser's Santander Yamaha, Xaus on his Sterilgada Ducati and Biaggi on the Corona Suzuki.


Race One would see one of the most incredible, and hair-raising, first laps that WSBK has ever produced. Turn one is a terrifyingly fast sweeping right-hander, and several riders touched at high speed. With the bikes geared for 100mph in 1st gear, starting would be tricky, but Toseland flew off the line and rose to 2nd place, nearly high-siding in turn 2. The twisting, physical Vallelunga track gives plenty of opportunity for overtaking, and the riders weren't about to turn down a half-chance.

Half way round the first lap there was a jaw-dropping moment when the riders chasing the leader Troy Bayliss went 4 abreast into a corner. Incredibly, they all made it round in one piece, with Troy Corser leading the group. However, Corser had turned off his traction control to make a good start and in all the excitement he forgot to turn it back on. Grabbing plenty of throttle in a left-hand corner he highsided right in front of the following pack. Toseland swerved one way, Haga the other. With Corser lying on the track in front of him, Roby Rolfo grabbed the brakes, surprising Max Neukirchner, who clipped him and tumbled into a gravel trap.

In the final corner of the first lap, there was even more action as James Toseland brutally slammed into the side of Nori Haga, the Japanese rider running well wide but staying on the bike. The mayhem continued into lap 2 has Ruben Xaus lost the front in a quick right-hander and slid into a gravel trap (and not for the first time this year!)

Bayliss had been very fast in the early laps, but by lap 3 he was holding up the charging Max Biaggi. The pair passed and re-passed each other before Biaggi finally took the lead with a clean move. The Roman was on lightning form as he got his head down and started lapping several tenths faster than anyone else. From then on it would be a lonely race for Max, who extended his lead nearly every time around.

Bayliss and Haga were battling for 2nd and 3rd places. Both were performing to their usual standards as they beat each other up in entertaining style. Behind them, James Toseland had dropped back, his traction control not performing as it should (his own fault for chucking the bike at a tyre wall in Superpole, really). However, Bayliss and Haga were holding each other up and Toseland caught them. A near-highside by Haga let Bayliss escape while Toseland and Haga renewed their lap one rivalry with even more close racing. Toseland came out on top after another forceful move that ended up with him almost leaning on the Yamaha's screen with his elbow.

Biaggi pulled out a lead of over 7 seconds, which dropped to 5 as he wheelied out of the last few corners and wheelied over the finish line, ecstatic at winning his home race. Bayliss took 2nd, while Toseland finished a hard-fought 3rd.

Race Two started with more breathtaking moments in the hell for leather dash to turn one. Ruben Xaus and Troy Corser were side by side and came together twice, the flailing knees and elbows of the lanky Catalan keeping them upright. This dropped them into the pack, where most people had made a decent start.

Again, Troy Bayliss was in the lead as the field reached turns two and three, where they disappeared into clouds of cement dust that were soaking up oil laid down in the World Supersports race. (The WSS race had been red-flagged after several riders fell on the slippery line.) Haga, Toseland and Corser were following, with Biaggi reaching fifth after being shuffled down the pack in the cement dust cloud.

Bayliss and Haga fought over the lead, while behind them the fast-charging Biaggi picked off Corser and Toseland then set off in pursuit of the leaders. Corser was pushing Toseland hard, and the Englishman was struggling to hold off the Aussie as his traction control was misbehaving again. Finally, the pressure was too much for the championship leader. He was even slower than usual in the tight left-hand hairpin, and seemed to lean the bike over too far. He lowsided in a shower of sparks, and Corser took 4th. Toseland picked up the bike, yanking on the damaged left handlebar then climbing back on and setting off. He was forced to stand up on the footpegs and pull up on the left bar with all his might to get it back into shape.

Biaggi closed up on the leading pair, and managed to dispatch Haga. He was close behind Bayliss when he ran a little too hot into a corner and had to pick the bike up to avoid hitting the Aussie's Ducati. This lost him well over a second. With Bayliss and Biaggi lapping at similar times, the Roman Emperor couldn't close the gap and had to settle for 2nd place behind Bayliss, with Haga finishing 3rd and Corser 4th. Toseland somehow managed to lap as fast as the leaders as he hauled himself up to 11th.

Toseland now leads the championship by 29 points from Max Biaggi and and 33 points from Haga as they head to the last round in France. The Ten Kate rider absolutely must stay on the bike in the two final races, because a pair of DNF's for Toseland would mean Biaggi or Haga could take the title with a pair of podiums.

It was a fantastic day of racing at Vallelunga, with Toseland starting to show a few cracks and Max Biaggi going from strength to strength in his first year of Superbike racing. Magny Cours should be fascinating next time out.

WSBK: Haga And Bayliss Dominate In Deutschland

The German meeting of the World Superbike championship started off with Superpole cancelled in favour of a standard 12-lap qualifying session due to a biblical downpour drenching the Lausitzring.
In the wet qualifying, Troy Bayliss managed to stall his Xerox Ducati at the end of the pitlane, forcing his mechanics to sprint full tilt down the entire pitlane with the starter engine. However, just as they arrived, the Pedercini Ducati team nipped out of their nearby pit garage and started up Bayliss's bike for them. It was a great example of the friendly competition in WSBK, and I'm sure the Xerox boys enjoyed the exercise! The rest of the qualifying session involved virtually everybody falling off on the slippy track. Yukio Kagayama ruled himself out again after breaking a bone again, while Karl Muggeridge dislocated a shoulder, which luckily popped itself back in. Kawasaki's Fonsi Nieto took pole and Regis Laconi 2nd by putting in decent laps when the other riders were busy chucking their bikes down the street.

In Race 1, there was the usual hectic Lausitzring start as the field funnelled into the swooping downhill chicane to start the lap. Max Biaggi made an outstanding start from the 2nd row to enter the corner 2nd behind Bayliss. The Italian was lucky to be in the race at all, as he stalled his Suzuki on the grid and had to be rescued by his mechanics bringing the starter engine so he could take part in the formation lap. Troy Corser somehow hung onto a near-highside and swerved wildly across the track, somehow missing everybody but baulking a few of them.
Nori Haga managed to battle through to 2nd on his Yamaha and take off after Bayliss, but the Aussie was disappearing into the distance. However, there had been hardly any dry practise, so nobody really knew whether their tyres would last. Bayliss fell foul of this when his tyre went off and he dropped back into Haga's clutches. The little samurai battled past Bayliss to take the victory, which he dedicated to a Japanese friend who died in a bike testing crash recently.
Biaggi and Corser were battling for 3rd place when Bayliss started slowing, and the Ducati rider could do nothing to hold them off. Max took 2nd place complaining of a minor gearshift problem, while Corser had to settle for 3rd as he couldn't match the straight-line speed and late braking of Biaggi's Suzuki. Bayliss finished 4th.
Ruben Xaus had been pushing hard, slamming Nieto out of his way with a brutal move. The crazy Catalan was right behind Biaggi when he did the usual and fell off. After excavating the bike from the soggy grass, Xaus restarted and took 12th.
Championship leader James Toseland had a nightmare with a badly vibrating tyre. He was even overtaken by the erratic Michel Fabrizio, who soon proceeded to fall off the bike. The young Italian remounted but couldn't restart, so he childishly smashed the screen and dropped the bike on the ground, just missing a marshal's feet. Toseland finished in a miserable 9th.

Race 2 started in much the same way, with Bayliss taking an early lead and Max Biaggi making another lightning start from row 2. Again, Bayliss took the Ducati to a lead of around 2 seconds, and again Nori Haga reeled him in. Bayliss had a big moment when the bike slewed sideways under braking and he just managed to get round the corner with the bike stood up and his foot on the ground, while Haga sneaked past. However, this time Bayliss could stay right with Haga's Yamaha, thanks to a harder tyre. After following in 2nd place for a while, Bayliss shoved past Haga and took off again to take the victory. This was the Aussie's 40th win in 120 starts, which even I can work out as an incredible 1 in 3 record.
Max Biaggi took a lonely 3rd place, not too bad for somebody who had never seen the track before and had extremely limited set-up time. The Italian controlled the gap back to Toseland and Corser and stayed in front, despite complaining of more gearshift problems. The Englishman managed to hold off the Aussie to keep 4th place. Corser was much faster in some areas of the track, but just couldn't squeeze past and had to settle for 5th. Behind him, Ruben Xaus managed to stay on the bike to finish 6th.

The racing in Germany wasn't brilliant by WSBK standards, largely due to the lack of dry set-up time resulting in big differences in lap times. Bayliss showed his typical never say die spirit to take his 40th win, while Haga managed to slash Toseland's points lead from 66 to 41 points. The Englishman won't be panicking, but another weekend like that could see Haga and Biaggi breathing right down his neck in the title race.

WSBK Misano: Bayliss On Title Charge

Aussie Troy Bayliss is back on the title trail after snatching a double victory at the new back-to-front Misano circuit. He is now just 21 points behind James Toseland, with both equal on 5 wins this season.
Nori Haga is 5 points behind the Ducati rider, but would have been ahead if it hadn't been for a crash with Max Biaggi in race one. The Roman Emperor was in 3rd and looking to take 2nd from his Japanese opponent. Unfortunately, Max was a little ambitious, and was probably caught out by the unique racing lines that Haga tends to invent for himself. Nori was livid, kicking gravel at the Italian as they picked themselves up and later claiming that what made him really angry was the lack of an apology.
Nori is no stranger to taking out other riders with ill-judged moves, but being Japanese he is of course scrupulously polite. Max, on the other hand, retreated back into the paranoid shell that he inhabited in his MotoGP years, saying that he was sorry for himself and sorry for Haga. That's about as close as you'll get to an admission of guilt from the Roman. Haga would probably know this if he had been racing with Max during his brief stint in Grands Prix rather than destroying a record number of terrifyingly expensive bikes while Max battled for wins. Best to let the incident slide and get on with it.
In race two, Haga made a very forceful pass to get by Max as if to prove a point. The two finished 2nd and 3rd, as they probably should have done in race one.
Toseland had a miserable weekend, complaining of chatter from his Honda. The Englishman will have to get back to his winning ways if he wants a second championship title, because Bayliss is on the move, and looking unstoppable.

WSBK Silverstone: Bayliss Stars in Downpour

Troy Bayliss was the only winner in the World Superbike round at Silverstone, with race 2 being cancelled due to torrential rain. The Australian had taken pole position, and was on top form in a 3-horse race with the two Yamaha Italia bikes of Haga and Corser.
There was action from turn one of the race, where Michel Fabrizio dumped his Honda. Very quickly it was obvious that the two Troys and Nori Haga were the only contenders for the victory. Championship leader James Toseland looked to be riding sensibly in 4th place until he highsided in the stadium section. As he picked the machine up, its right side was badly damaged and there seemed to be a lot of coolant pouring out, but Toseland remounted in 18th and charged back, finishing an impressive 8th to salvage a few points.
Karl Muggeridge was another victim of an early highside, and various other riders fell off to leave just 13 finishers, with Ruben Xaus among those who had fallen and restarted.
TV cameras showed Max Biaggi's eyes through his clear visor at the start of the race, with the Roman Emperor's expression seeming to verge on sheer terror, his eyes like saucers. He had a disappointing race to 6th place, with several scary slides showing how badly the Suzuki was handling on the soaking track, but stayed onboard to retain 3rd place in the championship and chip away a few points from Toseland's lead.
Regis Laconi had one of his occasional good days, with a decent ride to 5th, but was overshadowed by Roby Rolfo's 4th position. The young Italian has had two decent showings in a row now, and must be gaining confidence in the big Superbike after so long on the little 250GP machines.
Troy Corser had led for several laps, but finished 3rd, just behind Haga in 2nd and about three quarters of a minute in front of Rolfo.
Haga's 2nd place took a big bite out of Toseland's championship lead, and is now just 23 points behind the Englishman.
Troy Bayliss was the star of the day. After a great battle with Corser, who was as fast in the first half of the lap as Bayliss was in the second half, Troy number 21 managed to break away. There was a heart-stopping moment when his left foot slipped off the peg at high speed, dragging his trademark titanium toe slider along the ground and covering the following Yamahas in a huge shower of sparks. However, Bayliss kept cool as he lapped everybody up to Toseland and won the race in fine style.
Race 2 was cancelled as the conditions worsened. It seems to be a feature of WSBK riders that they are prepared to race in terrible conditions for race 1, but feel that doing the same again would be too great a risk. Since all of them have been flung over the handlebars a few times due to touching a white line or opening the throttle a tenth of a second too early, it's easy to see their point.
The conditions were freezing cold and soaking wet, thanks to the ridiculous weather the UK has had this year, with a scorching hot spring followed by a miserable start to the summer meaning that the stars of World Supers had much worse conditions than the BSB riders had at Silverstone a few weeks ago. Let's hope that things will improve when the WSBK championship returns to these shores.

WSBK Assen: Young Buck and Old Fox Share Spoils

James Toseland and Troy Bayliss took a win each in the World Superbike meeting at Assen yesterday.
Toseland had put his Ten Kate Honda on pole position with a scintillating superpole lap. He won race 1 after an epic battle with Nori Haga and Ruben Xaus. Haga had nearly fallen off on his superpole lap, his fairing audibly scraping along the ground, and had started from 15th on the grid. The little Japanese had scythed through the field, taking no prisoners, leading the race after just a few laps.
The resurgent Ruben Xaus was on a roll after his victory at Valencia. His bike looked to have similar horsepower to the factory Ducatis, leading to speculation that his team had managed to get hold of a few trick engine parts. The chaotic Catalan was on typically spectacular form, with brilliant overtaking manoeuvres aplenty. It was fantastic to see Xaus back at the pointy end of the race where he belongs.
Troy Bayliss spent much of the race battling with his team-mate Lanzi, who is improving but still doesn't look in any danger of winning a race. Troy Corser was also on great form, especially towards the end of the race. Corser was heading for a podium when his bike sprung a water leak, lubricated its own rear tyre and ejected the unfortunate Aussie over the high side at 120mph. This gifted 3rd to Xaus.
Toseland managed to sneak a few tenths ahead of Haga to take a home win for Ten Kate Honda.
Race two will be remembered for a long time, after producing an epic battle between Toseland and Bayliss.
Biaggi had taken the lead from 4th on the grid, but then charged backwards down the field, although not as badly as he had in race 1. The usual suspects were fighting at the front, with Toseland, Haga and Bayliss beating each other up as we expect three of the world's hardest racers to do.
Haga pulled off the track with some kind of technical failure, simply going straight off the track in a braking zone and parking the Yamaha.
The last two laps gave us some sensational racing between Toseland and Bayliss, with both pulling off audacious overtakes. Toseland was determined to take his first double victory, and Bayliss equally determined to grab his second win of the year.
The lead changed between the pair several times over the last two laps. Toseland seemed to have the advantage on the way into the final chicane, but he went very defensive, clearly expecting Bayliss to lunge up the inside. This badly compromised the young Englishman's path through the chicane, as he had to turn so tightly into the first part. However, Bayliss had taken a fast, uncompromised racing line through the chicane, blasting out onto the straight and sneaking past Toseland on the finish line. The Aussie took the victory by an incredible 0.009 of a second, just centimetres in front of Toseland.
Toseland was devastated, and looked like somebody had just burned his house down. Bayliss was a picture of delight. Having divested himself of his crash helmet, he rode back to parc ferme with an enormous grin that will surely be printed straight onto some Ducati publicity material.
Max Biaggi trailed in 3rd. It had been a terrible weekend for the Roman Emperor, who didn't look to have any speed whatsoever until an excellent superpole lap, and who had a terrible time in race 1. However, Max somehow salvaged the situation with a well deserved 3rd place, maintaining 2nd place in the championship.
Ruben Xaus showed he is back to his old self after hopping off the bike in race 2. Being Xaus, he gamely held onto the clutch, his lanky frame being dragged along behind the bike as it slid along the track on its side at 40mph. He remounted, only to hop off again trying to charge back through the field.
Toseland might not have taken the double, but he is opening up a gap at the top of the championship standings, and is favourite to take his second world title this year.
Bayliss showed that he still has it, as he has done so many times before. Still recovering from his finger amputation and cringeworthy crotch injury, the man is simply unstoppable, a true legend.

WSBK: Bayliss Loses Part Of Pinkie

Aussie World Superbike Champion Troy Bayliss has lost part of his pinkie after his 100mph highside at Donington Park on Sunday.
According to Crash.net radio, Bayliss lost the top two bones of the little finger on his right hand, and has been left with a stump. He had been forced to miss race 2 of the meeting after medics told him that it was too dangerous to ride with a badly mangled pinkie due to the possibility of infection. After surgery, he has been left with a one-knuckle stump.
As this is his throttle and brake hand, there is some concern as to whether Baylisstic Bayliss will be fully fit to race at the next WSBK round. However, as he is a true racer I would be very surprised if he wasn't right on the pace at Valencia.
Troy was very lucky to escape from the massive crash with just a finger injury. A crash at the same place in the World Supersport race saw a bike dig in, tumbling end over end and being totally destroyed. It shows just how staggeringly fast a 100mph crash really is. As former racer James Whitham mentioned in the British Eurosport TV commentary, imagine riding along a road at 100mph, jumping off the bike and sliding along the tarmac. You would expect to be seriously injured.
Best wishes to Troy as he recovers and fights to retain his world championship.

WSBK: Bayliss Bounces Back at Phillip Island

World Superbike Champion Troy Bayliss bounced back from last week's Qatar nightmare with a win and a 2nd place in his home races at Phillip Island.
The popular Aussie had put the Ducati on pole position, beating James Toseland, who admitted he should have pushed harder in the middle sector, and Troy Corser, who had a couple of scary moments on his Superpole lap when he was caught by huge gusts of wind in fast corners. "Nitro" Nori Haga had taken the final front row spot, beating Max Biaggi by a few hundredths of a second.
In Race 1, Biaggi made a stunning start from row 2, briefly leading but being swallowed by the pack almost immediately. Max's last visit to Phillip Island was on an HRC MotoGP machine in 2005, when the Roman Emperor was thrown over the handlebars on lap one, with the Michelin tyres still cold. It seems that Max has not yet worked up the confidence to push hard on cold Pirellis either, as he tiptoed around the first 2 or 3 laps.
James Toseland took the lead, and produced a dominant performance as he led the field. He took a very distinctive wide, swooping line into turn 2, leaving the door wide open for those behind. However, his line was just so fast that anybody wishing to overtake would have to charge into the corner, severely compromising their exit speed.
Troy Corser was close behind, looking hungry for his first win of the season, but he had to battle with the resurgent Troy Bayliss. The two Troys beat each other up as Toseland stayed in front.
Behind them, Biaggi and Haga were having a Battle Royale, with the Roman showing that he can hold his own against WSBK's hardest racer. It was an evenly matched fight, with the two of them coming close to collision several times, but skilfully keeping the racing safe.
Up front, Corser suffered from the Yamaha curse as his rear tyre wore out, giving him a rollercoaster ride as he struggled to get the power down on the fast left-handers leading onto the start-finish straight. It was a losing battle. With his Pirelli rear completely shot, and doing its best to fire him off the bike, Corser lost out first to Biaggi then Haga.
Bayliss saw that Toseland was also struggling for grip, and overtook the Englishman with 4 laps to go, later admitting that he probably should have waited another lap or two, but it didn't matter. The Australian took the victory, but not without a hard fight. He tried to go round the outside of Toseland, who responded with a crunching manoeuvre, slamming his Honda into the side of the Aussie's Ducati, then apologising at the first opportunity to take his left hand off the bars. Bayliss persisted, taking his first victory of the year from Toseland and Biaggi.
Race 2 saw Biaggi make another lightning start to take the hole shot, but again he was too cautious into turn 1 and was completely swallowed up by the field into turn 2.
Troy Corser took advantage, and led the field for the next few laps. However, Toseland and Bayliss were again on outstanding form, and it was soon a three-way scrap between them. The Englishman took the lead, and a couple of laps later Bayliss mugged Corser for 2nd place. Haga and Corser then had to argue amongst themselves for 3rd.
Behind them, Max Biaggi had passed Ruben Xaus and, with a clear track in front of him, was lapping faster than the leaders. He had to claw back more than 2 seconds, but eventually it was a 5-man freight train at the front.
Toseland had conserved his tyres better than in race 1, and managed to pull out a gap from Bayliss. Behind them, the Suzuki of Biaggi was duking it out with the two Yamahas of Corser and Haga.
Toseland crossed the line first, for his first ever victory at Phillip Island. Bayliss had to settle for second. Biaggi, Haga and Corser came out of the last turn three abreast. Corser was pushed out onto the grass and finished 5th. Biaggi was gaining on Haga, but it was the Japanese rider who took the final podium spot, the Roman ending up in 4th.
James Toseland now leads the championship, from Biaggi then Bayliss.

WSBK: Bayliss Hangs On To Lucky Number

The entry list for the 2007 World Superbike season seems to have revealed that Troy Bayliss will "do a Rossi" and keep his number 21 plate in this year's championship, instead of taking the number 1 plate he has the right to use as World Champion. This is a change from the last time Bayliss won the WSBK title, when he took the #1 plate, but failed to retain it, losing out to Colin Edwards.
Bayliss destroyed the opposition at the recent Pirelli tyre test at Phillip Island, Australia. He was fastest rider on all three days of the test, stamping his authority on this season before it has even begun. The laid-back Aussie is in outstanding form, winning the WSBK title, winning the last race of the MotoGP season (and of the 990cc era) and now topping the testing tables.
His main opposition for the upcoming season seems to be Honda's James Toseland, runner up in the championship last year and also a former WSBK champion. Toseland has been consistently fast in testing, and was clearly getting faster and faster on the Honda last year. Fellow Australian, fellow Troy and fellow WSBK Champion, Troy Corser and his Japanese team-mate Nori Haga are making steady progress on the brand new Yamaha R1, but it wasn't devastatingly quick "out of the box" and still needs a lot of work. Newcomer Max Biaggi has posted some quick times on the Suzuki, and is rarely more than a tenth or two down on his team-mate Kagayama, but still seems to be adjusting to the heavier Superbikes.
Possibly a surprise challenger could be Bayliss's Ducati team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi, who posted the second fastest time on the final day of the Phillip Island Test. It was a surprise to many when Lanzi was re-hired by Ducati despite a year of woeful results (but less of a surprise to the cynics who pointed out the kid's nationality). However, Lanzi was ultra-fast when he first raced a works Ducati, only stuttering after the devastating loss of his father. The Italian team are well known for their family atmosphere, and Lanzi's excellent performance in testing might just show that Ducati have managed to rekindle his confidence.
Despite Neil Hodgson's suspicions, I do not believe that Bayliss is at all scared of having a quick team-mate. Bayliss is not a Michael Schumacher character. He is certainly not known for the German's style of cheating and demanding weak team-mates. If Lanzi is quick, Bayliss will ride quicker, and enjoy doing it. Any man who beats Loris Capirossi on an identical MotoGP Ducati has nothing to fear.