Troy Bayliss - Interview

Troy Bayliss did not have a great run in Malaysia last weekend but the Taree (NSW) rider has his sights firmly set on the chance for a home win at Phillip Island this weekend.

Ducati have stunned many with their performance so far this year in MotoGP. The Italian manufacturer has been the only one to take the fight to Honda, albeit only at a few certain tracks.

In doing so they have made the Yamaha GP effort look more than a little lack-lustre, while Suzuki and Kawasaki have been made to look rather inept.

Ducati have done incredibly well, but obviously Troy Bayliss is eager for more. I spoke with him last week from his hotel in Malaysia about his chances at Phillip Island, “For the last few meetings we have been at a bit of a standstill development wise. We got a new frame at Brno and we have tried some different forks but it seems as though Honda have certainly stepped up their efforts in response to our early season challenges. At Motegi they could do much better than us under brakes, so it seems as though they have some new development helping them in that area now.”

Of course Troy has lost more opportunities to take the machine further forward as he failed to complete a single lap in the race at Motegi a couple of weeks ago when he was speared off by a sliding John Hopkins at turn one. Troy on the incident, “The first thing that goes through your mind when you’re sliding down the road in a situation like that is to try not to get collected by a bike from behind. Luckily that didn’t happen, but as soon as I looked at the bike in the gravel trap it was obvious that it was going nowhere. Colin (Edwards) was also in the gravel so I gave him a push out before walking back to the pits. I then headed back to the hotel and went for a run to clear my head.”

While Troy is looking forward to coming back to Australia for the Grand Prix there will be little chance for rest. “My family is in Europe with the children at school so I won’t even get a chance to stay on in Australia. I basically head straight back to Monaco, I enjoy it there though and that’s home for us now.”

And for next year, “I will be staying where I am in 2004 with the factory backed Ducati team. There is a lot of talk with who is going where, but that is all it is, just talk.”

While Troy will be in the hunt for a good result at Phillip Island, he won’t be the only one. It seems as though Andrew Pitt and Garry McCoy will not be in with much of a chance on the Kawasaki in the premier class, unless maybe some serious downpours can turn the tables their way.

But Anthony West will be strong in the 250 class while Casey Stoner is coming off some incredible 125cc performances. Young Stoner could even be our best chance for a home win at the Australian Grand Prix.

While both West and Stoner have proved they have the speed to make a win possible they are both nursing some fairly heavy bruises. Stoner has been riding injured for the last few rounds and again suffered a couple of heavy falls last weekend in Malaysia which will make things tough going for youngster at the fast and challenging Phillip Island circuit. But he has already proved himself to be pretty tough and given half a chance he will in there fighting this weekend.