BAYLISS BATTLES TO TWO PODIUMS FOR DUCATI XEROX TEAM AT
MONZA
 Troy
Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) battled his way to a couple of hard-fought
podium finishes in front of an 108,000 strong crowd at the
Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Troy finished runner-up in the
first race and then almost picked up the same result in the
second encounter as Yamaha's Noriyuki Haga took a double victory.
There was little joy for team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi, who finished
seventh in race 1 and then had an electrical problem on the
grid which meant he was a non-starter in race 2. Bayliss is
still in fourth place in the table after gaining just three
points on championship leader James Toseland (Honda).
"It was really hard work out there today, hats off to
everyone on the podium, they were all riding brilliantly"
declared Troy. "I didn't get off to a very good start
in race 2 and had to be very forceful in the early laps. I
then did my best laps in the second part of the race, but
honestly I'm just happy to have been on the podium two times
this weekend because we knew it was going to be very difficult
here. Our bike is exactly the same as last year and we've
managed to be nearly seven-tenths faster just through the
settings. That's all good but there's nothing else we can
do. There was a lot of action on the last lap. I was coming
really strong at the end, Max made a pass on James, then Max
got a big tank-slapper out of the chicane, I then had a good
run on James, but I lost the front in the Parabolica and ran
wide and James just had enough time to get under me but I'm
quite happy with the two podiums today.
"For sure my start in race 1 could have been a bit more
uneventful!" commented Lorenzo. "I made contact
with Rolfo and had to ease off the brake. When I braked again
I was going way too fast so I cut through the chicane to avoid
causing an incident, and that was my race over at the start.
Pity because the team and I had made an excellent choice of
tyres, the set-up was perfect and I lapped well throughout
the race. Doing those times was very important on this track.
I wanted to get a better start in race 2 but unfortunately
my 999 had an electrical problem on the grid. I put my hand
up but the race started and I was unable to restart from the
pit-lane."
Race 1: 1. Haga (Yamaha); 2. Bayliss (Ducati
Xerox); 3. Biaggi (Suzuki); 4. Toseland (Honda); 5. Corser
(Yamaha); 6. Kagayama (Suzuki); 7. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox); 8.
Fabrizio (Honda); etc.
Race 2: 1. Haga; 2. Toseland; 3. Bayliss;
4. Rolfo (Honda); 5. Biaggi; 6. Corser; 7. Kagayama; 8. Laconi
(Kawasaki); etc.
Points (after 6 of 13 rounds): Riders -
1. Toseland 229; 2. Haga 194; 3. Biaggi 191; 4. Bayliss 164;
5. Corser 135; 6. Lanzi 107; 7. Xaus 106; 8. Neukirchner 81.
Manufacturers - 1. Honda 238; 2. Yamaha 217; 3. Ducati 209;
4. Suzuki 191; 5. Kawasaki 77.
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