Motorcycles and news

SBK: Ducati’s Bayliss Fit and Ready for Assen April 27, 2007

The fifth round of the World Superbike Championship takes place this weekend at the Assen TT circuit in the Netherlands, four months before its traditional late summer date, a switch that was brought about by a reshuffle in the calendar dates.

This year’s championship battle was thrown into turmoil by Ducati Xerox Team rider Troy Bayliss’s crash at Donington. While Troy was able to limit the damage at Valencia with a heroic podium finish, he needs to cut the gap to the leaders, James Toseland (Honda) and Max Biaggi (Suzuki) with a couple of good results this weekend. The Yamaha duo of Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser however are both within closer range.

Troy Bayliss, 5th in championship (90 points)

Following his recent injuries, the 38-year-old Australian scored a gutsy third place finish in Valencia and will be back more or less at full strength for the fast Assen race. Troy has competed in eight races at the Dutch TT track, winning three of them, but he has also crashed out on a couple of occasions.

“I’m definitely in better shape than what I was last time we raced and I’m looking forward to doing the stuff at Assen. Everything is OK and I’ve got no problems with my hand or down under” he declared. “Assen has been up and down for me over the years and I’ve had a few strange moments there - some good and some bad - but last year it was looking OK until I crashed in the rain. I also won the championship there in 2001 and then lost it there in 2002! I do like racing at Assen, we could get strange weather at any time of the year really, but this time round the weather looks much better! 61 points is a lot to make up on the leader, it’s not totally out of reach but it certainly creates a bit of a situation where we have to have a perfect year now. We have to be very good, James has been riding well and has been very strong, but, you know, things can always turn sour in racing”.

Lorenzo Lanzi, 6th in championship (87 points)

25-year-old Lanzi has four participations to his name at Assen in 2005 and 2006, but has never gone higher than a sixth place on both occasions.

Championship Points (after 4 of 13 rounds):
Riders - 1. Toseland (Honda) 151; 2. Biaggi (Suzuki) 138; 3. Haga (Yamaha) 124; 4. Corser (Yamaha) 101; 5. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 90; 6. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 87; etc.
Manufacturers - 1. Honda 160; 2. Suzuki 138; 3. Yamaha 134; 4. Ducati 132; 5. Kawasaki 53.

The Circuit
Name: Van Drenthe Circuit Assen TT
Length: 4.555 kms
Pole Position: left
Finish line length: 560 m
Race distance: 2 x 22 laps / 100.210 km

Statistics :
Best lap: Corser (Suzuki) 1m38.965s (2006). Lap record: Bayliss (Ducati) 1m40.767s (2006). Superpole: Corser (Suzuki) 1m38.965s (2006).

2006 Results :
Race 1 - 1. Walker (Kawasaki); 2. Pitt (Yamaha); 3. Fabrizio (Honda).
Race 2 - 1. Bayliss (Ducati); 2. Pitt; 3. Nieto (Kawasaki).