Ducati's Troy Bayliss loves Phillip Island. There is nothing surprising about the fact that he holds the WSB lap record (an all-time best of 1:31.9 seconds prior to today). Testing at Phillip Island this weekend with several other WSB teams, Ducati and Bayliss made quite a statement.
Throwing down a lap at 1:31.0 seconds -- nearly a second quicker than the fastest ever -- Bayliss not only destroyed the existing lap record, he demoralized his competition, all of which resided more than one second behind him. A fluke? After all, how can the "tapped out" 999cc Ducati v-twin superbike be that much quicker than the still developing four cylinder machines? Unfortunately for the fluke theorists, it was Bayliss' Ducati teammate with the second quickest time -- a 1:32.1.
As testing continues, perhaps Bayliss and Ducati will show signs of weakness -- but we doubt it.
Could Bayliss be more confident and comfortable after stepping into a MotoGP race last year as a "guest rider" and blowing away the best road racers in the world? Bayliss and his 999 will be tough to beat in 2007, once again.
