Bayliss to race at Phillip Island world superbikes!
The Aussie legend is pulling on his road racing boots again, at the ripe old age of 45Australian motorcycling legend, 45-year-old Troy Bayliss, will race at the Superbike World Championship season opener at Phillip Island this weekend, answering overnight a Ducati call-up to replace injured rider Davide Giugliano on the Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale R.
The three-time former world superbike champion and former MotoGP winner will be on track from 11:45am Friday for first practice ahead of Sunday's two 22-lap races.
The father of three retired from road racing on a high in 2008 when he won his third world championship. He has not competed in a world championship round since. The last time he raced at Phillip Island, in 2008 on the then new Ducati 1098, he won both races. Over his world supers career he won six races at the island, an achievement only bettered by his compatriot Troy Corser who scored seven victories.
Bayliss is one of Australia’s most prolific winners in the world of motorcycling racing having amassed 52 wins and 94 podiums in world superbike racing, and one win and five podiums in MotoGP competition. He won his world superbike titles in 2001, 2006 and 2008 – all for Ducati.
Bayliss replaces the injured Davide Giugliano, who crashed in testing on Monday at the Victorian circuit and suffered small fractures to the L1 and L2 vertebrae in his back. Giugliano has proven the Ducati Panigale R bike to be very fast, quickest and Jerez in late January testing and also in the top pack in the Monday morning session of testing two days ago at the island, prior to his afternoon crash.
Since his retirement from world championship racing in 2008, Bayliss has stayed both physically and mentally race fit. Last year he won the Aussie dirt track and supermoto titles and is looking at racing Grand National AMA flat track events in America this year.
Troy also has developed his own flat-track dirt event, the Baylisstic Scramble, which will be staged this weekend at Phillip Island on a new course built behind Lukey Heights. But now with his commitment to the Ducati world superbike squad on the Phillip Island bitumen, it will be a juggle for him to hit the dirt as well and a new captain might need to step up to head Team Bayliss in the scramble!.
For event information go to www.worldsbk.com.au.
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