VOL. 52 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 18, 2015 P23
Mile. The concept morphed from
there to include several more rac-
es. Bayliss is working with David
Lloyd and Lloyd Brothers racing
to run its race-winning Ducati.
"If we can find a budget to put
this together I think this will be
one of the most exciting things to
happen to Grand National racing
in years," Lloyd said. "To have a
rider of Troy's talent and back-
ground riding one of our bikes
would be a thrill."
During his career Bayliss won
the Superbike World Champion-
ship three times, as well as the
British Superbike Champion-
ship and a MotoGP race, all with
Ducati. He finished his career
after winning the 2008 World
Superbike title. To this day his
52 World Superbike victories are
second only to Carl Fogarty.
Bayliss is scheduled to meet
next week with Ducati's Ernesto
Marinelli to see if details for run-
ning the Grand Nationals can be
worked out.
"Knowing that the Lloyd Broth-
ers have a Ducati that's proven
to be competitive, I thought that
made sense," Bayliss explained.
"If I'm going to race over there
(in America) I want to do it on a
Ducati. I think it would be a great
way to give the brand more expo-
sure over there."
Bayliss' thoughts on racing se-
lect Grand National Miles were
that they would play into his rac-
ing experience better than the
shorter circuits.
"The hard-pack Miles are a
bit faster and some of the tracks
that are a little bit more road racy
might suit me," he said. "You've
got to do a little bit of slipstream-
ing and the races are long and
you've got to use your head a bit
as well."
We texted current AMA Pro
Grand National Champ Jared
Mees, who's raced Bayliss at
Superprestigio and in Australia,
to see if he thought Bayliss was
ready to tackle a Grand Nation-
al Mile and got the reply back,
"Heck yeah he is!"
Bayliss went on to say that with
the exposure flat track gained
through the Indy Mile and now
with Marc Marquez racing in Su-
perprestigio that he believes the
sport is the hottest thing going
right now.
"With Marquez and Rossi be-
ing huge flat track enthusiasts,
it's sort of re-sparked interest in
flat track racing and I love it as
well," Bayliss said. "I want to have
a chance to race against the best
in the world in the AMA and then
hopefully start a Grand National-
type series here in Australia."
Finally, when asked what his
expectations were in racing
Grand Nationals, there was none
of just wanting to put it in the
Main, or top-10 finish, no, Bayliss
flatly said, "I want to win a Grand
National Mile. That's the goal."
Larry Lawrence
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
SCOTT
JONES
Bayliss gave
Superprestigio
a go earlier this
year, but feels a
Twin on the big
track would suit
him better.
