Troy Bayliss' tough weekend

Three-time World Superbike Champion Troy Bayliss was set to make his endurance racing debut at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island on the weekend behind the wheel of a V8 Supercar, but after some bad luck had to settle for a 14 lap sprint race.

The Paul Morris Motorsports prepared Commodore of Dean Fiore and Troy Bayliss came to a shuddering halt before the race even started; a broken alternator belt the culprit.

Bayliss will now make his endurance racing debut at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 in October but is still hopeful of a positive start to his four-wheeled endurance racing career.

"I guess the whole weekend was a bit of a learning process and even up until the start of today's race, I felt like I was progressing well," Bayliss said.

"We were taking a lot of good steps leading up to the race and even during the warm up when I went out with a full fuel load I was doing some good lap times.
"Dean [Fiore] went out on the sighting lap for the race when the car suddenly stopped and we were unable to compete in the race," lamented Bayliss.

"It was a shame, I felt like I would have learnt a lot throughout the race and the whole deal with me competing this weekend was to get some miles under my belt before Bathurst."

However, Bayliss was happy to finish his first ever V8 Supercar race in 29th place when he took part in a 14 lap sprint race for co-drivers.

"Yesterday's race had been a long time coming, not only for myself but also for Dean [Fiore] and it was a relief to finally be on the grid," said Bayliss.

"I did get caught up in a bit of a bingle when somebody speared off, hitting me, and the car took quite a heavy hit in the side. With it being my first actual race I did learn a lot, especially during the pit stop and also having a lot of the main championship contenders coming through the pack," added Bayliss.

Troy Bayliss will be in action at the Mount Panorama circuit for the Bathurst 1000 race that runs between October 8 -11.