BAYLISS (DUCATI XEROX) RETURNS TO WINNING WAYS AT PHILLIP
ISLAND AFTER A FOUR-YEAR BREAK
Phillip Island (Australia), Sunday 5 March: Troy Bayliss
put a first race disappointment behind him to take the Ducati
Xerox Team's first win of the season and the Australian's
23rd World Superbike career victory at Phillip Island. It
was the former world champion's first win since Laguna Seca
in 2002 and helps to maintain a slim one-point lead in this
year's championship.
Bayliss set a storming pace in the first race, but excessive
tyre wear in the final stages dropped him down to sixth behind
eventual winner Troy Corser (Suzuki). Troy made amends in
the second race when he fitted a harder rear tyre compound
on his Ducati 999 and rode a more defensive race. He out-braked
Toseland (Honda) into Honda corner on lap 16 to take the chequered
flag in front of an ecstatic home crowd. Earlier winner Corser
crashed out on lap 4.
"It's been a really good weekend, obviously I was on
a bit of a downer after race 1, but that's racing", declared
Troy. "It all went well because we've got a smart team
and they know what to do. We obviously did a race distance
on the tyre before but something strange happened. Anyway
we put that behind us and we decided to use the hardest tyre
Pirelli brought along. Then I made my move on Toseland at
two-thirds race distance and although I was nearly in the
same situation with the tyres with three laps to go, I still
managed to pull a good enough gap to win. We're leading the
championship again, so that's a bonus. Now we move on to Valencia
and Monza which are places we like so I hope to keep the momentum
going".
Lanzi, who had to start from the pit-lane after encountering
a clutch problem during the warm-up lap, powered up the field
to eleventh place, but was unable to make further progress
as he struggled to maintain the pace. In the second race he
was attempting to move up amongst the mid-field runners when
he high-sided on lap 11.
"It has been a pretty tough weekend, we didn't find the
right direction immediately with the team and I made a few
errors" commented Lorenzo. "This morning in the
warm-up finally we found a good set-up to race maybe for the
podium, but then we had bad luck with the clutch in race 1
and I had to start last. In race 2 I was recuperating places
but I made a mistake and crashed. Muggeridge was ahead of
me, and I brought him down when I high-sided. Now we've got
a month and a half before the next race, so I can get back
to 100% fitness, because here I was still in a bit of pain
with my ankle and knee from the crash in Qatar".
RACE 1: 1. Corser (Suzuki); 2. Barros (Honda);
3. Toseland (Honda); 4. Haga (Yamaha); 5. Rolfo (Ducati);
6. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox); 7. Xaus (Ducati); 8. Nieto (Kawasaki)
.... 11. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox). RACE 2: 1. Bayliss; 2. Toseland;
3. Barros; 4. Haga; 5. Pitt (Yamaha); 6. Kagayama (Suzuki);
7. Rolfo; 8. Xaus (Ducati).
POINTS (Riders): 1. Bayliss 75; 2. Toseland
74; 3. Corser 63; 4. Barros 55; 5. Pitt 45; 6. Haga 42 ....
11. Lanzi 15. (Manufacturers) 1. Honda 78; 2. Ducati 76; 3.
Suzuki 73; 4. Yamaha 58; 5. Kawasaki 22; 6. Petronas 3.
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