The month long ‘Summer’ break has been a good one for Australia’s defending World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss. The break has allowed the Infostrada Ducati rider to recover from the back injury and broken rib that he suffered in the last two rounds of the championship at Laguna Seca and Brands Hatch and says that he is in the best shape of his career.

“The break has been perfect actually as I’ve had a month off and had a bit of time to get better after Brands Hatch,” said Bayliss. “I only had a few days off immediately after Brands and slowly got back into it. I’ve been back in the gym and probably more serious than I’ve ever been. I can’t remember being in as good a shape as I am now. I’m just really looking forward to getting to Germany this weekend and doing some hard riding.”

This weekend’s round in Germany sets the scene for the busiest and most important month of the season. Three rounds remain (Oschersleben, Assen and Imola) with Bayliss holding a 39-point lead over arch rival, American Colin Edwards (Castrol Honda). As has been the case all season, Bayliss will be attempting to outscore Edwards this weekend, so that he can add to his point’s advantage heading to the final rounds.

“I’m in a similar sort of situation as I was when we went there last year, as I was leading the championship ahead of Colin (Edwards),” added Bayliss. “It’s going to be interesting, firstly at Oschersleben, where I’d like to good two good results ahead of Colin and then head to the remaining two rounds in a stronger points position. I’d like end the small winning streak that Colin has at the moment and I feel that I’m due for another good weekend as the last two have been very frustrating and I’d like to get back to where I was earlier in the year.”

The 3.667km Oschersleben circuit made its debut as a round of the Superbike World Championship last year, with victories going to Edwards and Ruben Xaus (Infostrada Ducati). Bayliss had a mixed weekend as he suffered his first non-finish of the year in race one, before claiming third place in race two.

With 14 wins from 20 races this season, Bayliss has been the man to beat, but his consistency at winning races, has only been match by the consistency of his rival, Edwards, who continues to stalk the Australian throughout the championship. The pair have been locked together throughout the season and are expected to take the championship all the way to the final round at Imola.

“You would think that with that many wins, that the job would be done, but Colin is so consistent, which is great for him. I can’t believe that I’ve won so many races this year as I only won six on the way to taking the championship last year. This year we thought that a similar number of wins and consistency would get us there, but as it turns out, I’ve had a lot more wins and a couple of ordinary rides and now I haven’t got as much of a points advantage as I would have liked. But, you don’t want too much then, as it’s going to be boring. You always ride fast when you have someone pushing you hard, so it’s been great racing with Colin. All year I’ve said that he is the guy to beat and that’s the way it has been.”

Qualifying for this weekend’s round begins on Friday, followed by final qualifying and Superpole on Saturday, before Sunday’s two 28-lap SWC races.

OSCHERSLEBEN, SWC FAST FACTS
Circuit Length: 3.667km
2001 Superpole: Neil Hodgson (GSE Ducati) 1:27.325
Lap record: Colin Edwards (Castrol Honda) 1:27.988 (2001)