Preview - Silverstone
SILVERSTONE SHORT CIRCUIT AWAITS CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER
BAYLISS AND LANZI (DUCATI XEROX TEAM)
Silverstone (UK), Thursday 25 May: Following the high-speed
blast around Monza, the World Superbike Championship passes
from the quickest to the slowest track on the championship
calendar as the Ducati Xerox Team pairing of Troy Bayliss
and Lorenzo Lanzi line up for the fifth round at Silverstone.
Last year the Grand Prix circuit used for three editions of
World Superbike up until 2004 was replaced by the 3.561 km
short track, and the two races saw a double triumph for the
Ducati Xerox Team with Regis Laconi and James Toseland taking
a win apiece.
The hard-charging Aussie Troy Bayliss last raced at Silverstone
in 2002, when he shared the wins on a rain-affected Sunday
with his Honda rival Colin Edwards. This time round Troy is
on a winning streak of five consecutive races and he aims
to further increase his points lead this weekend.
"For me Silverstone is similar to Monza because I always
seem to get good results there," declared Troy. "In
BSB I was always up at the front or winning, and I remember
that day back in 2002 when I won one race and had two crashes.
Anything can happen at Silverstone! It's a different circuit
now but it's still got a few corners I remember. I know we
can go well here because we had a couple of wins last year!
Monza was probably the most satisfying race of the year for
me. We had a few stability problems during the weekend but
the guys in the team sorted it out for the race. I think I'm
in pretty good shape now, I'm riding well and am confident
for this weekend whether it's rainy or sunny."
Lorenzo Lanzi struggled in front of his numerous home fans
at Monza, but feels confident he can score a couple of good
results at Silverstone.
"I know that things didn't go too well at Monza, but
I am approaching Silverstone in the right spirit, like I do
about all the other races, confident and calm about it,"
commented Lorenzo. "Silverstone is a track that I like
a lot, even though the faster circuit we used a couple of
years ago was much better. The first part of the track is
not bad, but I don't really like the final part which is very
slow. I have some good memories of Silverstone because I won
a round of the European Superstock championship here in 2003."
DUCATI XEROX RIDERS IN STORE AT HARRODS.
Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi made a special guest appearance
in the famous Harrods department store in Knightsbridge, Central
London this morning. In an event organised in collaboration
with Ducati Corse's luggage partner Tumi, the two riders were
present in the store for a couple of hours before heading
off to Silverstone. Troy and Lorenzo were greeted by representatives
from Harrods, Tumi and Xerox prior to the store opening and
posed for photographs in front of the Harrods shop window
where the luggage collection is on display. They were escorted
by the store's security guards through Harrods to the Tumi
concession in the luggage department to sign autographs and
stop for more photographs with fans, customers and employees.
Finally the riders extracted lucky names in a prize draw to
win a pillion ride on the Ducati Xerox 2-Seater Experience
at the Silverstone weekend as well as some items from the
Tumi+Ducati luggage collection.
THE CIRCUIT.
Name: Silverstone Circuit
Length: 3.561 km
Pole Position: right
Corners Left/Right: 5/7
Longest straight: 491 m
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after 4 of 13 rounds).
Riders - 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 175; 2. Corser (Suzuki)
139; 3. Toseland (Honda) 97; 4. Barros (Honda) 95; 5. Haga
(Yamaha) 93; 6. Pitt (Yamaha) 79; 7. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox)
59; 8. Rolfo (Ducati) 46. Manufacturers - 1. Ducati 176; 2.
Suzuki 149; 3. Honda 124; 4. Yamaha 113; 5. Kawasaki 57; 6.
Petronas 4.
STATISTICS.
Best lap: Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m26.679s (2005). Lap record:
Laconi (Ducati) 1m27.130s (2005). Superpole: Kagayama (Suzuki)
1m26.679s (2005). Race distance: 2 x 28 laps/99.708 km.
2005 RESULTS.
Race 1: 1. Laconi (Ducati Xerox); 2. Corser (Suzuki); 3. Toseland
(Ducati Xerox). Race 2: 1. Toseland; 2. Corser; 3. Haga (Yamaha).
TV COVERAGE.
Eurosport 2 (Europe): Saturday 27 May, 1900 Superpole (highlights);
Sunday 28 May, 1300 Race 1 (live), 1630 Race 2 (live). British
Eurosport (UK): 1730 Superpole (as live); Sunday 28 May, 2015
Race 1 + Race 2 (delayed). ITV (UK): Sunday 28 May, TBA Race
1 (highlights), 1515 Race 2 (live). La7 (Italy): Sunday 28
May, 1810 Races 1 & 2 (as live).
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