With the start of the 2006 World Superbike Championship only a week away excitement is building for what is shaping up to be the most hotly contested production based four-stroke series ever.

Troy Bayliss is feeling back at home on the Ducati Superbike and has blitzed every test he has participated in. After recently testing at Valencia alongside team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi and the Ten Kate Honda pairing of Karl Muggeridge and James Toseland, Bayliss was more than a second quicker than anyone else. Other top riders taking part in the test included Max Neukirchner (Ducati), Norick Abe (Yamaha), Roberto Rolfo (Ducati) and Fabien Foret (Suzuki).

Bayliss is certainly one of the hot favourites for the 2006 World Superbike Championship, the Australian won the title in 2001 with Ducati and is eager to repeat that success this year.

It seems clear that the biggest threat to those title aspiration will come from countryman and reigning World Superbike Champion Troy Corser. The Suzuki man has not gone head to head with Bayliss at any of the pre-season tests, it will not be until we see them in action at the opening round of the series in Qatar next weekend that any sort of pecking order will be established. Corser first won the title in 1996 with Ducati before winning with Suzuki last year and is eager to make it back to back titles to raise his tally to three which brings him closer to World Superbike King Carl Fogarty’s record of four titles.

One wildcard that could upset the chances for an Australian to again take the World Superbike crown is GP exile Alex Barros who will contest the series with Team Klaffi Honda onboard a CBR1000RR Fireblade. The highly experienced Brazilian has had little time to get acquainted with his new steed and tyres but will quickly be on the pace.

I spoke with Troy Bayliss while he was at his Monaco home yesterday.  We discussed his recent experiences in MotoGP and his main rivals for the 2006 World Superbike Championship.

“The main priority is going to be Troy Corser as he is the current World Champion and is on a great bike, with a great team and is sure to be consistent. He will be the main man to beat. There are going to be a lot of other guys that will also be strong at certain tracks like my young team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi and perhaps as many as five other riders. With everyone on the same tyres these days it makes it a much closer game all round. Alex Barros should also put in some great rides I expect and could be challenging every weekend if his race package is up to speed.”

The differences between the latest 999 Ducati and the 998 machine he rode to so much success?

“Well they look very different but after getting the bike set-up the way I like it they feel much the same. I had my first test on the bike while still carrying an injury and didn’t get it fully sorted right out of the box. But at the following test we made instant progress and instantly picked up a full second per lap. The bike now feels just like the 998 I rode in 2002. The engine hasn’t changed much since then either, it was already pretty much at the limit of possible development. At the most we have maybe 6 or 7 horsepower more than we did in 2002 so the engine certainly doesn’t feel all that different. We have a great base suspension set-up that will pretty much only need minor tweaks for each circuit.”

On the current state of play with the twin cylinder machines versus the new crop of four-cylinder Superbike Bayliss made some very interesting comments.

“I have to say that as an overall package we probably still have the best bike on the track. The only place where we perhaps are lacking a little is out of the slower turns. Between 2nd and 4th gear some of the other bikes seem to be grunting harder although our trap speeds at the end of the straights are still very competitive. The fact that the latest crop of Pirelli tyres offer really good grip means the four cylinder machines can take advantage of that. Tracks where the entries on to the straights are quite fast, such as Phillip Island and Monza we will have no dramas. However tracks where we have to pull from a lower gear onto the main straight could cause us a few problems and allow some of our competitors to get a small jump on us. Overall though I think it all balances out and I am certain that we have an extremely competitive race package.”

Any regrets about the move to MotoGP?

“I certainly think that I didn’t show the speed I should have. I could make numerous excuses for that I guess but at the end of the day I never managed to get a machine consistently up front and the main regret I guess to sum it up simply was that I just don’t believe I showed what I believed I could have.”

Any ambition to return to MotoGP?

“Not one!”

Most talented rider you have ridden against in any format?

“I would have to say Valentino has done pretty good (Laughs), he has won everything so it would be pretty hard to go past him. He has a great team behind him too which always makes a difference and he knows how to work all that to his advantage but even without that Valentino is definitely the most talented guy out there.”

Was it hard to go back to Ducati after the rumoured problems while you were part of their MotoGP effort?

“When I first left the Ducati MotoGP team I had the offer of going back to Superbike with Ducati and at that stage I didn’t think I wanted to go back when I had the possibility of a Honda MotoGP ride. But after that experience then the choice to go back was obvious. I again had a chance to be in a great team with a great machine and a sure shot at a world title so it was an extremely easy decision in the end. And after testing the bike and the season drawing upon us I certainly don’t have any regrets in making that decision.”

Have any of the technicians that went with you when you made the transition to MotoGP come back to the Superbike squad with you?

“When I first returned I discussed that with Davide (Tardozzi), I hinted that I wanted to try and get some of those guys back but he assured me that there was no need as the current crop of guys are up to the task and that certainly seems to be the case. So really the only team member with me from back then is Davide himself and obviously a lot of the senior management remains the same but as far as pit crews go it is a new set-up from the last time I rode a Ducati Superbike.”

What does Troy think of the series now compared to last time he was there?

“Well the Japanese bikes are of course now equal on capacity and we saw that last year with a very strong championship and this year it is coming back stronger and stronger again. With Barros entering the fray that will surely help things along with the profile of the series and a lot of other guys that have been in MotoGP recently are in the World Superbike paddock this year so it all adds up to a strong field with plenty of competitive bikes so I expect it to be a cracker of a year for the series.”