Ducati Corse

Troy Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada) handed over his World Superbike Championship crown to Colin Edwards (Honda) but not without a fight today, after two extraordinary races at the Enzo & Dino Ferrari Circuit in Imola. In front of 97,000 spectators, the largest crowd ever for a motorcycle race in Italy, the Australian gave 110% in an attempt to overturn the one-point deficit to his Honda rival, but just missed out on both occasions. The podium was identical in both races, with Edwards winning by a whisker from Troy, but Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada) did his best to give team support by finishing third. With Troy’s two second places, Ducati took the Constructors’ title for the eleventh time in World Superbike’s 15-year history. Out of the 2002 championship’s 26 races, Troy’s final victory total was 14, with Edwards taking 11 wins and Tamada 1 in Japan.

Troy and Colin put on an awesome display of riding in both races, with heart-stopping passes around the fast Imola circuit and the results could have gone either way. He was closing rapidly on Colin when red flags brought race 1 to a halt after Hodgson crashed on lap 11. Troy won the restart by two-tenths of a second from Colin, who picked up the aggregate victory by half-a-second, while race 2 saw Troy set the outright Imola lap record of 1’48.389 during his battle with Colin. “I really wanted to win the championship today” declared Troy. “I did everything right, and tried to slow Colin down in that second race but he also wanted to win and he knew what to do. I pulled a rabbit out of the hat in this morning’s warm-up and got on the pace. The race was a real showdown, I did pretty good but it just wasn’t enough. Whoever won today deserved it so congratulations to Colin!”

Troy, who will be leaving to race the brand-new factory Ducati Desmosedici in next year’s MotoGP championship, added that he had had three successful and enjoyable years with Ducati in World Superbike. “Everyone seems to know what I’m doing next year, but all I want to say is that I’ve been in World Superbike for three years now, I’ve had a really good time and the atmosphere is very friendly. I’m sorry to be leaving it, and I will certainly miss it”.

Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada) had two of his best races this year to finish sixth overall in the championship. “We worked really well all weekend, it was just the starts were not so good for me today” commented Ruben. “We changed the clutch for the second race to try to get a bit more feeling and it was really good. I was so close to Colin and started to do 1’48s again but with a couple of laps to go I had a few problems and couldn’t do any more to help Troy win the title. I tried my best, and I have to say that I’ve been learning a lot this year and it’s been a real privilege to race against these two kings of Superbike.”

Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M), who will be returning to the USA to race in AMA Superbike next year, concluded today’s final two races in tenth and ninth place, which earned him fifth overall in the championship. “It’s been a long year and the results haven’t been what I expected. I’ll miss all the people in World Superbike. A big thanks to all the guys at Ducati and L&M for the opportunity they gave me. I was planning to go out with the best result I could but just couldn’t get the opportunity because things didn’t go well at all for me today.”

GSE

HM Plant Ducati completed a successful second season in the Superbike World Championship with Neil Hodgson and James Toseland finishing third and seventh respectively in the final points table. Hodgson had already clinched third in the first leg at Imola, but Toseland was forced to wait until the last race of the season.

Hodgson blasted off the front row of the grid and into the lead, only to overcook it into the first turn. Bayliss took the initiative, while the HM Plant Ducati rider made another mistake in the opening laps to allow Edwards and Xaus through. That left him with another race-long battle with Noriyuki Haga for fourth, this time losing out to the Japanese rider at the chequered flag.

“This was a more satisfactory race than the Imola event last year and a good way to finish the year,” said Hodgson, who now moves on to race for Ducati Corse in 2003-04. “Third in the championship is a superb achievement for the HM Plant Ducati team and a fitting way for me to complete my fourth year at GSE Racing. I’m disappointed to be leaving the team, but would like to thank them for all their support and wish them every future success.”

Team-mate Toseland continued to impress with his second sixth position on the day. Like the first race, he quickly made his way through in the opening laps and maintained station throughout the race to beat Frankie Chili in the battle for seventh position in the championship standings.

“I’m over the moon with the results today and the way in which I have improved this season,” said the 21-year-old Sheffield rider. “None of it would have been possible without the HM Plant Ducati team with whom I am looking forward to racing again next season. With continued improvement and development, I’m sure that I can move on to the next step of the ladder next season.”