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What a great race and that Imola track looks awesome, it's now risen towards the top of tracks I want to ride/race on before heading back to Aus ...

And of course, the man ... This is the closest I've ever been to hero worship as an adult (as a kid I was a basket ball player and had plenty of hero's, Byron Scott, Michael Jordan etc) and Troy Bayliss is just The Man. His humility as well at the end, not even wanting to go onto the podium because he wasn't in the top three ... He's definitely a top bloke (I know, because the DSC gave me the opportunity to meet him at Brands :D :D :D )

I'm kind of speechless, I'm so happy for Troy and me and the kids are bouncing around my flat with glee :D I'm a kid again!

Congratulations to Alex Barros for his maiden win, he rode a great race despite an early mistake off the line and nearly getting tangled in the Corona Suzuki mess early on.

Rock on Troy, lets hope a decent rear see's him win the second race.

And good luck to Kevin Curtain, the Aussie leading the World Supersport and 4th on the grid.

COME ON KEVIN!!!!!!!!!!

Great news for Troy and Ducati then... good stuff...

And for what it's worth - Imola is awesome to ride.... :D :D

Agreed TP - another superb World Championship for Ducati, let hope the same happens in BSB !!!

Superb! :D Thanks for posting that Tony. 5th is enough - no point is crashing. The man has ridden like a champion all season - both he & Ducati have deserved this win.

And finishes the round with a champion's win from the front!

Congratulations to the little fella :D

It could have been a close run thing, Barros was closing fast. It was a shame to see Pitt not quite make the podium and I can't believe that Yamaha nearly didn't give him the job this year! If they keep him next year and give him some testing etc and he'll be up there I reckon. Especially with the new R1 being released, it's supposedly got more power (obviously) but in the midrange, and new geometry. Haga on it will be good too :D

Bayliss, 11 wins for the season so far - what a legend.

Lets all have a minutes silence!

:lol:

:lol:

Some great quotes from Bayliss:

"I told the boys it was death or dishonour" (about the second race)

Upon being asked if he was going to have a beer or two to celebrate - "Couldn't eat a thing but I'll have a few beers for sure"

:D

PS - Kevin Curtain didn't wrap up the championship but heads into the final race with an 18 point lead. Another Aussie winning the WSS championship?

I wouldn't be any other nationality for quids!

Campione Del Mondo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Grande Troy.................

Good on him, Bayliss has rung that old V twins neck this year. No one else has run with him consistently.

Last race for PFC in Italy, nice tribute from MCNs Ginger whinger in the Eurosport studio.


Ray.

Is it just me, or does TB REALLY not like the guy who interviews him after races? He always looks like he's about to tw*t him one and always argues with him!

Well done to Troy though - top riding. Anyone know what his leathers/lid colour scheme was about? Was it a Xerox thing?

Brilliant result! Troy is the man again and back on top where he belongs.

3 wsb titles in 4 years, with 3 different riders, against 1000cc opposition,.............god it is a **** bike, lets have a new model!:lol:

....and what makes it even more amazing is its clearly a slower bike than the inl4's, god knows Whitham says so 4-5 times a race! :rolleyes:

well done Troy, win again next year!

Change the record you big goose!

The Ducati's would be nowhere without the extra tuning they're allowed over the IL4's so it's not a level playing field. Even with THE MAN riding it.

It's a very good road bike though, even if it is ugly ;)

The best thing for Ducati in WSB will be the rules being changed to allow the twins to have more capacity and bring the tuning rules inline with the IL4's. Just my opinion mind ... ;)

I think my record is a valid point.........;) 3 different riders n all that! when it goes to 1200 cc thatll be like going back to the 750 inl4's, so your level playing field is even less level!

Hrmm ... I'm not really following your logic there. ... but you go for it!

:lol:

It's nothing to do with the tuning the Dukes are allowed - even with that level they're still way down on power. It's the MotoGP ECU that's costing a fortune to buy and setup for each race to get the absolute maximum out of what they have. If they had more power they wouldn't need such sophisticated electronics and they could rely on old school BHP like the IL4s.

That's my point - not wanting to bandy semantics but adding the ECU and electronics etc IS tuning :)

So are they allowed more electronics than the IL4s? I know they're allowed more scope within engine internals, but I thought everyone can run whatever ECU with traction control etc? The Suzukis certainly have a top spec system.

I thought it came down to litres per second of air flow, as the metric used to ensure the playing field was even. From memory the maximum is 14,000litre per minute or something or other, which means that you can add fuel at only one given flow rate as you need to keep the engine form running lean or rich to get maximum torque/power. In order to get to that flow rate, the Ducatis have to have more expensive mechanical components within the engine. Hence the cost. Bigger engine = same flow rate at lower cost and keeps the playing field even. Last time I was at Silverstone Haga's bike was 9km/h quicker than Bayliss' on the straight, but Bayliss must have been quicker elsewhere to set pole, and the win one of the races. Some of that is him, but as Andy says, 3 different riders so part of it is down to the beautiful 999.

Ducati want to have 1200cc for a simple reason................cost. Pretty much as 749er points out.

Yes they are allowed to modify the oily bits of the engine a lot more then IL4 and with that modification comes a lot more stresses and strains that require a lot more preventative maintenance, i.e expensive engine parts are skipped far more often that the less highly tuned IL4s.

Ducati want to see more privateers on their bikes on the grid, the current structure makes it far cheaper to get an IL4 competitive and maintain it for a privateer team than a V twin.

ya know why the factory 999s have been so quick and won the championships?...................the riders think the bikes are dog ugly and wanna get the race over as soon as possible, they keep having to change riders 'cos no one wants to ride them ugly 999s for longer than they have too, hell Bayliss couldn't face a year on the 999 so went to Honda to ride a MotoGP bike, only came back to Ducati cos he was promised they were replacing the bike with something less ugly..............:lol:

Good on ya Xaus, he knows how to treat a 999 and single handedly is trying to destroy as many as possible:D

I could go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and onand on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on.......................but I wont:lol:

Ray.

you got it Ray, the BEAUTIFUL 999!!!!!!!!

It's a tribute to the Rainbow Jersey worn by the cycling world champion (TB is a HUGE cycling fanatic):

Is it me or is there a camel toe in the above picture? :eek: