Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1542345
:P rp Ph;I phi lllond Cir(uir lslond. Aurtrolio I Enere mav nave oeen Aussre ! *inne.s in each 22Jap Phlllip I t.t"na race. but that wa5 I *or, it in terms ol the ore- I dictability stakes, Having dominated qualifying and Superpole, Troy Bayliss was the hoftest favorite imaginable for a double win on his home circuit. Then when he set another new track best of l:31.908 in morning warmup, there was simply no other cuts of meat being prepared for the barby but bright-red double Bayliss steaks, washed down with generous slugs of victory champagne. After he had iust demolished the field in the early part of the first race, at lap- record pace on lap two and then very close to it for the next few laps, he leapt to a five-second ad\rantage. By that time, TV cameras had wisely decided to go look at the astonishing action going on behind with the battle for second - and the even more thrilling baftle from 20th up to the top l0 - as most had lost interest in the fleeing Bayliss. Until Bayliss lost drive, of course, And that's what happened, his lead dropping off qui.kly as Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki's Troy Corser charged on to take a determined win, from Klaffi Hondas Alex Barros and a more distant James Toseland on the winston Ten Kate Honda. And Bayliss was left to fade to an eventual sixth place. But the soap opera wasn't finished yet - for there was more to come in part two. Even when Australia Day looked like it was possible to come not only early, but twice for Corser, he crashed out of the podium fight in the second race. With harder rubber on the back wheel, Bayliss finally got the much- desired flrst win of his prodigal world Superbike season, ahead of Toseland and Barros, who had run into the tumbling Corser at the foot of MG. Corser was finally deemed okay, but it was a nasty incident all around. The chaos for some of the top riders changed the color and status ofthe cham- pionship points table, with Bayliss now leading Toseland by a single point,75-74, with Corser third on 53, and Barros fourth on 55. With the return of the sunshine, after dull early morning conditions, Bayliss looked to have the first race in the bag long before the finish - such was his early pace and huse lead at half race distance. He set a new lap record of l:32.402 on the second lap. before trouble set in. According to Bayliss and the team, they had done a long-run race simulation, but little evidence came forth from the time shee6, as Bayliss seemed to do a fistful of seriously fast laps at a time, albeit on the same tires. The tires did not look to be shredded or melted more than anyone else's at the end, but it appears that the tire itself - a medium compound like everyone else chose - had simply worn down past its serviceable life- Mechanical wear, as opposed to tearinS or shredding. Corser blamed Bayliss himself for doing quite so many fast early laps unnec- essarily, but Bayliss was unimpressed with the performance, and that was that. ln race one, Yamaha Motor ltalia's Noriyuki Haga finished fourth, with new World Superbike rider Robby Rolfo a strong flfth on the Ducati SC Caracchi mount, after a skip through the top lleld from ninth on lap one. An incredible midfield battle saw nine rideG fighting for the points for much of the race, in what was another alltime classic event. After the (literal) dust-ups in Qatar, it was looking good for race two. But there was one incident in the sec- ond race we could have done without; the Corser crash. The second 22Jap event of the day took place in similarly warm ambient con- ditions as the opener, but with a much warmer track temperature showing up, some riders opted for harder compound tire choices. One such was eventual win- ner Bay'iss, fired up by his problems in race one. He kept it in check for most oI the race, howevel like an angry tiSer stalking the blue-and-white prey of Toseland, Bayliss eventually passed the long-time leader with seven laps left to take a hu8e,y popular win. "lt's been a really good weekend; obvi- ously I was on a bit of a downer after race one, but that's racing," Bayliss said. "lt all went well because we've got a smart team and they know what to do. We obviously did a race distance on the tire 26 MARCH rs,2006 . CYCLE NEWS Round 2 t'^or.h 5, 2006 WORLD SUPERBIKC Wo d Supct'bikc Championship f t , ,) --- _-.*..,F - -d I ,. -l L f _i_ f ._c'4 t7 I i t. \ ,( ',) T Bv GonooN RrrcHrE PHoros By Go[D & Goose 'l ,l l 5 Troy Boy'irs (21) gol rhe eorly iump on Jomer loselond (52), Noriyuki Hogo (41) ond comPony ln nd(e one. t It but nothing come eosy