Race day - Phillip Island
BAYLISS TAKES THE DOUBLE WIN AT PHILLIP ISLAND. FABRIZIO
TAKES FIRST PODIUM WITH THE DUCATI XEROX TEAM
 An
incredible day for the Ducati Xerox Team with both Bayliss
and Fabrizio performing impeccably. Twice world-champion Troy
Bayliss took the double win in front of his home crowd, in
what is to be his last ever Superbike race day at Phillip
Island. Despite the elbow injury he sustained in a high-side
yesterday morning, Bayliss rode the two races perfectly, leading
the field from the start in Race 1 (restart) and leading for
most of Race 2 after rival Corser crashed out in the early
stages. Fabrizio had a much more difficult start to race 1
after failing to leave the start line. He sustained muscular
contusions to his right calf and although in pain returned
to the grid for the race 1 restart. After a less than perfect
start, Fabrizio soon moved up from eighth place to fourth
and, after a battle with Corser and Xaus, was able to take
an impressive third place and his first podium with the Ducati
Xerox Team. Unfortunately in Race 2 a jump start for Fabrizio
meant a drive through penalty, leaving him unable to catch
up and with an eventual nineteenth place finish.
Bayliss now leads the championship with 88 points, 27 points
ahead from Nieto (Suzuki) while Fabrizio is in eighth place
overall. Ducati leads the manufacturers championship with
95 points and a 32 point advantage over Suzuki.
Troy Bayliss (winner - Race 1 and Race 2)
"It's something you dream of, to have a double win and
I knew this year it would be difficult to achieve but I have
a great team behind me who all worked really hard. overnight
They had to build a new bike for me from scratch after my
crash yesterday. I had a few ups and downs this weekend. After
Race 1 I was struggling with the last 6 laps but in the end
I managed to take the win. In the second race the tyres were
a little slower but I felt better on the bike which was more
consistent and a pleasure to ride. After race 1 I was so tired
but after the second one I felt great. I had to concentrate
hard today as in the second race, even though I was ahead
I was aware I had to keep it together and put in some consistently
good laps. It's been incredible, great weather and some good
racing. I know there will be fighting to come later this season
so two wins like that was just fantastic."
Michel Fabrizio (3rd place - Race 1)
"All in all, it was a good day. I'm sorry for what happened
this morning on the grid but the bike failed to leave the
start line and that unfortunately caused an accident. The
blow to my leg from the impact from David Checa's bike meant
that of course my leg was hurting a lot during the restarted
race 1 but I gritted my teeth and did what I had to do. Then
there was the jump start in race 2. I realised straight away
that I'd done it and unfortunately after the ride-through
penalty that they gave me, I wasn't able to catch the others.
A big thank-you goes to my team today as they had to completely
rebuild my bike between the two races, literally from the
frame, so I'm very grateful to them."
RESULTS: RACE 1 - 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox)
2. Corser (Yamaha) 3. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox); 4. Xaus (Ducati);
5. Nieto (Suzuki) 6. Checa (Honda). RACE 2
- 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox); 2. Checa (Honda); 3. Nieto (Suzuki);
4. Xaus (Ducati); 5. Neukirchner (Suzuki); 6. Kiyonari (Honda)
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: Piloti - 1. Bayliss
(Ducati Xerox) 88; 2. Nieto (Suzuki) 61; 3. Xaus (Ducati)
59; 4. Corser (Yamaha) 45; 5. Checa (Honda) 45; 6. Neukirchner
(Suzuki) 39; 7. Biaggi (Ducati) 36; 8. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox)
34 Manufacturers - 1. Ducati 95; Suzuki 65; Yamaha 54; Honda
46; Kawasaki 7
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