Australian Troy Bayliss reaffirmed his man of the moment status with an immaculate exhibition of high-speed racing in the World Superbike round at Monza on May 7.

The 37-year-old Ducati rider continued from where he left off at Valencia two weeks ago, clinching both races on his factory 999F06 to extend his current winning streak to five – and moving himself to fourth overall on the all-time World Superbike victors’ list.

“I love coming to Monza and I’ve got fond memories of the place ever since I first arrived here with Ducati in 2000, but to win like I did today is pretty special,” said Bayliss. “I love to do well here in front of all the Italians, there’s just something special about the place.

“I’ve done the double here today and the last time I was here I was lucky enough to get the same result. I think I’ve got the best team in the paddock and a big thanks to everyone for these wins today”.

Bayliss now has 28 wins from 85 World Superbike starts, with countryman Troy Corser (33) and American Colin Edwards (31) just in front of him. Carl Fogarty tops the list with 59 victories.

On the fastest circuit in this year’s championship, Bayliss won the opening 18-lapper by an emphatic 3.982sec over Honda’s Alex Barros (CBR1000RR), before leading Corser (Suzuki GSX-R1000) to the chequered flag in race two.

Race one got off to an unruly start with a seven-bike pile-up at Turn One, which thankfully didn’t involve any of the five-strong Australian connection.

However, Steve Martin (Foggy Petronas) would soon be in the pits with mechanical problems, a travail that would be repeated in race two.

Out front, polesitter Corser, Bayliss, the returning Karl Muggeridge (Honda CBR100RR) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha YZF-R1) all hit the ground running, while Barros was languishing outside the top 10 after being balked in the aforementioned Turn One mayhem.

The Brazilian then began his great leap forward, while Bayliss set about making the race his own. By the time he had eked out a 4.736sec lead with two laps to go, it was mission accomplished – his fifth win in a row at Monza, which he would extend to six a few hours later.

Meanwhile, Barros eventually took the honours in a three-way rolling scrum over Corser and Haga, with Andrew Pitt (YZF-R1) making up two spots on the final lap to finish fifth from Muggeridge.

In race two, Bayliss was relentless, producing a race time over five seconds slicker than the first, as well as eclipsing the lap record that Barros had set in the opener.

However, Corser also puffed his chest too, with Bayliss’ lead hovering around the 1.5sec mark for most of the journey.

“The second race was a bit harder, because the guys got a bit of a jump and Corser and Haga made a good first few laps, while I was with James (Toseland) for a bit and it was difficult to get past,” said Bayliss. “Troy and I played a bit of cat-and-mouse but the most important thing was that we got away from Nori (Haga) and it came down to us two in the last few laps.”

With Haga in a safe third position, which would morph into his first-ever podium at Monza, Barros’ spirited joust with James Toseland (CBR1000RR) was a race two highlight, with the veteran finally edging past on the final lap.

A few seconds behind, Pitt just got the better of Muggeridge and Kawasaki’s Fonsi Nieto (ZX-10R) in a blanket finish.

After four of 13 rounds, Bayliss’ lead has been extended to 36pts (175 to 139) over Corser, followed by Toseland (97), who spectacularly crashed out of race one. Then it’s Barros (95) and Haga (93) in close company, followed by Pitt (79).

Although he lost more ground to Bayliss, Corser knows that he gave his all at Monza.

“It’s impossible for me to feel really disappointed today because I know that I rode as hard as I could in both races,” said Corser. “In the end, all I can do is my best and that’s what I did.

“The front brake was behaving inconsistently in the first race and sometimes it would work okay and sometimes it would come nearly all the way back to the lever, which made my life pretty interesting! I nearly crashed twice, so I reckon it was pretty good to even get on the podium.

“For sure Bayliss’ Ducati can accelerate out of the turns better than my bike, and that is a big advantage. To ride as hard as I did today and not win is a bit frustrating, but honestly I just could not have done any more. We’ll see what we can come up for Silverstone.”

In World Supersport, Aussie Kevin Curtain was on target for his first win of the year before his Yamaha YZF-R6 expired down the main straight four laps from home.

Curtain’s disappointment then left the way clear for 19-year-old French rookie, Yoann Tiberio (Honda CBR600RR), to become the 25th World Supersport winner of all time.

Tiberio defeated Robbin Harms by 1.924sec in the 16-lapper, with current world champion Sebastien Charpentier making it an all-Honda podium in third position.

Charpentier, who had won the opening three races of the year, was again the fastest man on the track, but he was forced into the pits for a ride-through penalty after jumping the start. He returned to the action in 11th, and then made short work of the riders in front of him.

Australian Broc Parkes (YZF-R6) was seventh, while Josh Brookes was a non-starter after severing ties with his Ducati team. He’ll now remain in Europe to pursue another ride.

Charpentier (91pts) more than doubled his lead over Curtain (60) at Monza, with Harms (52) still in third from Tiberio (48) and Parkes (38).

The Superbike World Championship will re-convene for round five at Silverstone on May 28.