Joined Sep 2005
4K Posts | 3+
Lancashire UK
Valencia, Feb 09: Troy Bayliss showed that three years away in MotoGP have done him no harm by breaking the Superbike lap record at the Valencia track in Spain on Tuesday (February 7).
The 2001 Superbike world champion eclipsed Neil Hodgson's 2003 time by a third of a second and was a full second quicker than Ducati Xerox team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi.
2004 champion James Toseland, who lost his seat to Bayliss and is now riding a Honda, clocked similar times to Lanzi and new team-mate Karl Muggeridge.
Tuesday at the Valencia circuit in Spain saw some of the World Superbike riders embark on their last testing session before the first race in Qatar on February the 25th.
The Ducati Xerox team is expected to be at the front of the field and in Lorenzo Lanzi they have one of the rising stars of the grid.
The Italian made a huge impression at the Eurospeedway Lausitz in September by taking Superpole while deputising for the injured Regis Laconi, before winning Race Two.
And having returned to the privateer Ducati SC Caracchi team he took the final race of the season in Magny-Cours.
Now at the works Ducati team, Lanzi should have more success and he produced some respectable times here, clocking one minute 35.4 seconds on qualifying tyres and going round 0.2 of a second slower in race trim.
But Lanzi's new team-mate looks set to be his biggest threat.
Troy Bayliss won the 2001 World Superbike title, but left for MotoGP after the 2002 season.
And after three years away, Bayliss is back on a Ducati and back to his best.
The Australian scorched round in one minute 34.3 seconds on qualifying tyres, a third of a second quicker than Neil Hodgson's lap record set in 2003 and over a second faster than Lanzi.
Perhaps more impressive was the time of one minutes 34.4 seconds he set with race tyres and Bayliss seems right at home back in Superbikes.
"The bike's obviously more close to the bike I rode in 2002 in Ducati Superbikes. It looks a lot different but now we've been working on the set-up a lot and basically now it feels like the bike I rode in 2002 just with a little bit more horsepower.": Troy Bayliss, Australia - Ducati Xerox.
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WSB should be good!
The 2001 Superbike world champion eclipsed Neil Hodgson's 2003 time by a third of a second and was a full second quicker than Ducati Xerox team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi.
2004 champion James Toseland, who lost his seat to Bayliss and is now riding a Honda, clocked similar times to Lanzi and new team-mate Karl Muggeridge.
Tuesday at the Valencia circuit in Spain saw some of the World Superbike riders embark on their last testing session before the first race in Qatar on February the 25th.
The Ducati Xerox team is expected to be at the front of the field and in Lorenzo Lanzi they have one of the rising stars of the grid.
The Italian made a huge impression at the Eurospeedway Lausitz in September by taking Superpole while deputising for the injured Regis Laconi, before winning Race Two.
And having returned to the privateer Ducati SC Caracchi team he took the final race of the season in Magny-Cours.
Now at the works Ducati team, Lanzi should have more success and he produced some respectable times here, clocking one minute 35.4 seconds on qualifying tyres and going round 0.2 of a second slower in race trim.
But Lanzi's new team-mate looks set to be his biggest threat.
Troy Bayliss won the 2001 World Superbike title, but left for MotoGP after the 2002 season.
And after three years away, Bayliss is back on a Ducati and back to his best.
The Australian scorched round in one minute 34.3 seconds on qualifying tyres, a third of a second quicker than Neil Hodgson's lap record set in 2003 and over a second faster than Lanzi.
Perhaps more impressive was the time of one minutes 34.4 seconds he set with race tyres and Bayliss seems right at home back in Superbikes.
"The bike's obviously more close to the bike I rode in 2002 in Ducati Superbikes. It looks a lot different but now we've been working on the set-up a lot and basically now it feels like the bike I rode in 2002 just with a little bit more horsepower.": Troy Bayliss, Australia - Ducati Xerox.
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WSB should be good!
