Troy Bayliss

Troy Bayliss is a motorcycle racer, born at Taree in Australia in 1969. Troy showed much promise as a youngster in the sport, however when he entered his teens his enthusiasm for racing waned. He started a job as a spraypainter at Joe Berry's and commuted to work by bicycle. It was on his daily commute that Troy would pass a dealership and finally was tempted enough to purchase a ZXR 750 on a loan. Troy won the first race he entered on the bike and performed well in subsequent events, so much so that, despite the financial risk he was taking, decided to race in the Australian Supersport championship. Finishing as runner-up in the Australian supersport championship in 1995 before moving up to the Australian Superbikes series the next year, finishing 3rd that year and 2nd in 1997. It was in 1997 that his break came. He was entered as a wildcard for the 1997 Australian 250 Grand Prix riding for the Ari Molenaar Suzuki team. On a significantly underpowered machine compared to his competitors, Troy finished in 6th despite exiting the final corner in 3rd place, such was the lack of power of his machine. Troy was offered a ride in the British championship the next year, winning it in style in 1999.

Related Topics:
Motorcycle - Taree - Australia - 1969 - ZXR 750 - 1995 - British

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He started 2000 in the US's AMA series, but was called into WSBK when Carl Fogarty was injured at Philip Island. Despite having a shocking start at his first race in Sugo and missing the first 3 rounds he was an eventual race winner. 2001 saw him win the championship against Honda rider Colin Edwards, and he started 2002 in dominant form breaking the record (at the time) for most race wins in a season, but Edwards thanks to his consistency in usually minimising the points lost when Bayliss won by finishing second overturned the advantage, winning his second title at a thrilling final round in Imola despite Troy crossing the line first in race one losing on aggregate due to the first part of race one being red flagged because of an oil leak by Peter Goddard's Benelli. Incidentally, Peter Goddard vacated his seat on the Suzuki superbike in the Australian series in 1997 and recommended Troy for his position. In retrospect, the 2002 season had been lost partially due to mishaps created by his own team. Troy was injured at Brands Hatch when colliding with his teammate Ruben Xaus, whilst Xaus was swerving to bring heat into his tyres, and after the Laguna Seca round, Ducati changed the frame. This frame change would prove costly as Troy consistently complained that the bike didn't feel like the same machine he had been riding all season previous, it was only at the final round in Imola that the team reverted back to the original frame, needless to say that Troy was very competitive all weekend and with Colin provided one of the most enthralling motorcycle races ever witnessed.

Related Topics:
2000 - US - AMA - WSBK - Carl Fogarty - Philip Island - 2001 - Honda - Colin Edwards - Imola - Peter Goddard - Ruben Xaus - Laguna Seca

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Both Troy and Colin moved to MotoGP in 2003, and it was Bayliss who was initially more successful. In Ducati's first season in the class their bike was highly competitive, with Troy taking 3 third places, briefly leading at Philip Island, as well as Brno and Welkom earlier in the year, before crashing, and finishing 6th overall, narrowly losing the rookie of the year race to Nicky Hayden with Loris Capirossi taking their first win at the Circuit de Catalunya. 2004 was a difficult year for the team however, with Troy only 14th in the standings. Despite (or perhaps due to) its prodigious straight-line speed the bike didn't handle well, with Troy often over-riding and crashing frequently, this led to Troy's subsequent sacking from the factory Ducati squad, a part of which Troy had been for five years previous. This move was considered an unpopular one by many, considering that neither Troy nor Loris were able to perform as well as they had the previous year. Confirmation that Troy's sacking was influenced by sponsorship pressure rather than any performance based reasons was seen in the appointment of Carlos Checa as Troy's replacement. However, good results near the end of the season earnt him a ride with Sito Pons' Camel Honda team for 2005, but he has not been a frontrunner, despite promising speed shown in his first tests on the 2004 machine and Alex Barros winning in Portugal. The likeable Australian's 2006 prospects look as yet uncertain especially having suffered an injury before the Motegi Grand Prix in Japan.

Related Topics:
MotoGP - Philip Island - Brno - Welkom - Nicky Hayden - Loris Capirossi - Carlos Checa - Sito Pons - Camel - Honda - Alex Barros - Portugal

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