Troy crashed out twice in terrible conditions at Silverstone, before remounting his Ducati 998 to finish fifth in the first race and then took his ninth win of the season with a masterful ride in race 2. “I’ve got some good memories of this track, where I took a race win and finished second last year” declared Troy. “I quite like the circuit and it’s good for the spectators who can see all of the track. If the weather is good, I’m sure there’ll be more people here than last year. The track is flat but enjoyable; the last section onto the straight and the first couple of corners are really nice. All you need is good tyres and a good bike and away you go. We’re halfway through the championship now and I’m aiming to get as many points as possible for the championship, although Colin still remains my biggest threat.”

Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada), fifth in the table with 120 points, finished on the podium again in the second Silverstone race two weeks ago and is confident he can obtain a similar result here in Germany. “I’m really looking forward to racing at the Lausitzring, especially after my podium finish two weeks ago at Silverstone, which restored a lot of confidence” declared Ruben. “This circuit is not so difficult to master, but there are a couple of tricky corners. In 2001 I finished sixth, but now I feel a lot more confident with everything this year, including the bike, so I’ll be aiming for another podium or even better this weekend”.

Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M), sixth in the championship with 119 points, will be looking to make amends for last year’s race, when he struggled in the damp conditions. “I recently made a bet with my brother Eric, who won his AMA race so I now have to win mine!” declared Bostrom. “Last year was a bit of a haze for me at the Lausitzring and I don’t remember the track very well but I’m sure I can do better than that this year! The tricky points are the really long corner, where you don’t get in and out very quickly and you get stuck in the middle. In those corners it’s difficult to gain a few-tenths of a second.”

Opened in August 2000, the Eurospeedway is located in the former East Germany, 150 kms south-east of Berlin and 50 kms from the Polish border. The complex is made up of four tracks, which can cater for anything from Formula Cart to motorbikes and from super-speedway to endurance racing. Around 80% of its spectator capacity of 120,000 seats allows a view over the entire race-track from the grandstands. This will be the second visit of World Superbikes to the Lausitzring after last year’s successful debut event.

In collaboration with the prestigious international auction house Sotheby's, Ducati Motor Holding will be organizing a charity auction on Saturday 15 June during this year’s edition of World Ducati Week (14-20 June) at Misano Adriatico’s Santa Monica circuit. The lots to go under the hammer will include various articles signed by factory Ducati Corse riders Troy Bayliss, Ruben Xaus and Ben Bostrom (leathers, helmets, gloves, bikes fairings, brake discs, etc.), as well as metal sculptures built by Ducati employees and works of art donated by the Biagiotti Contemporary Art Gallery in Florence. All proceeds will go to Riders for Health and Clinica Mobile, two charities closely linked to the world of motorcycling.