Misano - Preview
BAYLISS (DUCATI XEROX) ON A WINNING ROLL AS WORLD
SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP REACHES SEASON MID-POINT
Misano Adriatico (Italy), Thursday 22 June: The 2006 World
Superbike Championship heads down Italy's Adriatic coast to
the Santamonica circuit for the half-way point in the series,
the traditionally scorching hot San Marino Round at Misano
Adriatico. All eyes will be on runaway championship leader
Troy Bayliss, who currently has a healthy lead of 76 points
after an impressive run of seven successive victories in the
first ten races.
Troy's main aim this weekend will be to add further wins
to his total to equal the nine-race winning streak of Colin
Edwards (Honda) and Neil Hodgson (Ducati). The last time the
37-year-old Australian raced at Misano was in 2002, when he
came away with a brace of wins, but more recent performance
indicators come from the Misano tests in mid-April, when he
set the circuit's unofficial best in 1m33.317s and last week's
three days at Brno, where he was again quickest overall.
"It all went well in Brno so I guess I'm going to Misano
confident and in the right spirit. Some of the things we tested
there could also work in Misano. We also got the unofficial
record in the FGSport tests but conditions are sure to be
a bit different now from April. I scored a double win here
back in 2002 and I'd love to do that again of course. Two
more wins would equal the record of nine in a row so that's
something else to aim for. I love Misano, it's a real special
place and it's just great to do well there in front of the
Italian fans. I love the left-handers leading onto the back
straight, that's one of the best parts. The only downside
is that it's not such a good track in the rain, but hopefully
we won't get much of that this weekend".
Lorenzo Lanzi, fourth quickest in the April test session,
comes to Misano in the wake of a couple of disappointing races
at Monza and Silverstone, but the 24-year-old Italian will
be counting on considerable local and vocal support for his
home race as he hails from just down the road.
"The last two races didn't go very well for me but we
showed some positive signs during the recent tests in Brno
and also here in the tests in April, so I want to do just
as well this weekend. We'll try and get off to the best possible
start tomorrow morning" declared Lorenzo. "In my
opinion we are competitive on this track, both with qualifying
and race tyres. The best part of the circuit is from Carro
1 along the fast Curvone, while the most difficult to deal
with is the bit that goes from Rio to the last curve on the
start straight. However Misano is a fascinating track. It's
my home circuit, I did my first races here, so it's great
to be here. There will also be a lot of members of my fan
club, they've prepared something special for me so I have
to do my best for them as well!".
THE CIRCUIT
Name: Autodromo di Santamonica
Length: 4.060 km
Pole Position: Left
Corners Left/Right: 4/4
Longest straight: 510 m.
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after 5 of 12 rounds):
Riders - 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 225; 2. Corser (Suzuki)
149; 3. Haga (Yamaha) 133; 4. Toseland (Honda) 129; 5. Barros
(Honda) 113; 6. Pitt (Yamaha) 103; 7. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox)
62; 8. Xaus (Ducati) 56; etc. Manufacturers - 1. Ducati 226;
2. Suzuki 161; 3. Honda 156; 4. Yamaha 153; 5. Kawasaki 75;
6. Petronas 4.
STATISTICS
Best lap: Yanagawa (Kawasaki) 1m33.494s (1997). Lap record:
Bayliss (Ducati) 1m34.913s (2002). Superpole: Bayliss (Ducati)
1m33.525s (2002). Race distance: 2 x 25 laps/93.380 km.
2005 RESULTS
Race 1: 1. Laconi (Ducati Xerox); 2. Vermeulen (Honda); 3.
Corser (Suzuki). Race 2: 1. Laconi; 2. Vermeulen; 3. Corser.
TV COVERAGE
Eurosport (Europe): Sunday 25 June, 1200-1300 Race 1 (live),
1530-1630 Race 2 (live); British Eurosport (UK): 1000-1545
Race 1 & 2 (live); La7 (Italy): Sunday 25 June, 1150-1245
Race 1 (live), 1850-1935 Race 2 (delayed).
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