Preview - From the Aussie perspective

The 2006 Superbike World Championship continues at Brno (Czech Republic) this weekend, with Aussie Troy Bayliss set to extend his lead beyond the magical 100-point mark.

The Ducati factory rider has been in ruthless touch all year, storming to eight wins from 12 races en route to a 94-point (254 to 160) lead over Japan’s Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha YZF-R1).

If Bayliss (999F06) maintains his sublime form in the second half of the calendar, he’ll coast to a second World Superbike title, as well as going close to eclipsing the biggest ever winning margin in the history of the 19-year-old championship.

Currently, American Doug Polen’s 150-point win in 1991 stands as the most resounding performance on record, closely followed by Carl Fogarty’s 139-point triumph four years later.

Surpassing those benchmarks may eventually be on the cards, but Bayliss’ immediate goal is to flex his muscles at Brno, where he has yet to race in World Superbike guise.

However, the 37-year-old is certainly au fait with the 5.403km circuit, where he scored a podium in his rookie MotoGP season (2003) behind Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau.

Ironically, Bayliss’ last MotoGP race also came at Brno in 2005, when he finished eighth on a Honda – and broke his wrist in a motocross accident soon after, which forced him out for the final six races.

Bayliss’ return to the circuit came in a World Superbike test session last month, when he topped the timesheets in a three-day hitout, while arch-rival and world champion Troy Corser (Suzuki GSX-R1000) was languishing at home with chicken pox.

Despite touching up his rivals on that occasion, Bayliss is fully aware that the entire SBK fleet continues to show marked improvement, and that he must remain in attack mode.

“I think all the teams have picked it up a little bit as well and are getting the bikes working better,” said Bayliss. “Right now they're all riding well: Andrew Pitt, Noriyuki Haga, Troy Corser and James Toseland are all really riding strong and they'll give us some good races.

“We've been saying for a while that we're quite on the limit with what we can do with our bike. We've been working more with the settings… things like trying to make the rear tyre last longer than go for more speed. As a result, our performance over a race distance is really good.

“I am raring to get back into racing after the long break. I've just been kicking around and having fun since Misano, but we've also been to Goodwood to do some demo rides at the Festival of Speed in the UK. That was a good weekend at Goodwood; let's hope it's a good one this weekend as well!”

Meanwhile, Corser competed at Misano, but things just didn’t go his way as he dropped from second to fourth on 149 points, behind Briton James Toseland (Honda CBR1000RR, 157).

Corser’s formal revitalisation began earlier this week at yet another test session – this time at Lausitz in Germany.

“After chickenpox and Misano, I was really happy to be back in the saddle again and working with the bike,” said Corser. “I gave the bike a bit of a run-out at Goodwood two weeks ago, but that was just a demo for the spectators.

“In Lausitz we've been testing some new bits and pieces and trying out some of the ideas we don't have time to try during a regular race weekend. So far, I'm happy with the test and looking forward to a good weekend at Brno in the next race.”

Corser has won three World Superbike races at Brno – the double in 1996, before sharing wins with Haga last year.

The only other Brno World Superbike round was held in 1993, when Andrew Pitt was just starting out in the local road racing scene.

Since then, he’s won Australian and World Supersport titles, ridden in MotoGP, and won his maiden World Superbike race.

Emboldened by the breakthrough win at Misano on his much-improved YZF-R1, the 30-year-old Isle of Man resident is now ready to become a regular top three contender.

"It was a fantastic feeling to get the win in Misano and I can't wait to get to Brno,” said Pitt. “We had a good test there last month and the team has got the bike working well everywhere. It's been a pretty busy time and we had a test at Lausitz last weekend too, where we were able to try quite a lot of things out.

“The target for this weekend's the same as always: to get on the podium and take points of the guys ahead of me in the championship."

Pitt, the 11th Australian to win a World Superbike race, is sixth in the standings on 128pts, closing in on unpredictable Brazilian Alex Barros (CBR1000RR, 146).

Meanwhile, Kawasaki’s Chris Walker (ZX-10R) and Aussie Karl Muggeridge (CBR1000RR) will be contenders after showing strong form at last month’s Brno test, while the spectacular Haga, who holds the Brno lap record, must be close to finally converting a podium finish into a race win.

Two other Australians will compete at Brno: Steve Martin (Foggy Petronas FP1) and three-time Australian road racing champion Josh Brookes (Team Bertocchi ZX-10R).

The gritty Martin continues to chase points on a triple which rarely comes to the party, while Brookes is certainly not lacking for action – he’s just back from a two-week stint in Japan preparing for the iconic Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race on July 29.

In World Supersport, world champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda CBR600RR) will return from a broken collarbone to face the collective might of Aussies Broc Parkes and Kevin Curtain, who both ride YZF-R6s for Yamaha Germany.

Charpentier leads on 116 points from Curtain (94), Parkes (74) and Robbin Harms (CBR600RR, 74).

CURRENT WORLD SUPERBIKE STANDINGS (after 6 of 12 rounds):
1 Troy Bayliss, Australia, Ducati 254
2 Noriyuki Haga, Japan, Yamaha 160
3 James Toseland, Great Britain, Honda 157
4 Troy Corser, Australia, Suzuki 149
5 Alex Barros, Brazil, Honda 146
6 Andrew Pitt, Australia, Yamaha 128
7 Lorenzo Lanzi, Italy, Ducati 80
8 Ruben Xaus, Spain, Ducati 70
9 Chris Walker, Great Britain, Kawasaki 64
10 Fonsi Nieto, Spain, Kawasaki 61

AUSTRALIAN RIDER QUOTES
Andrew Pitt – Team Yamaha Motor Italia
"It was a fantastic feeling to get the win in Misano and I can't wait to get to Brno. We had a good test there last month and the team has got the bike working well everywhere. It's been a pretty busy time and we had a test at Lausitz last weekend too, where we were able to try quite a lot of things out. The target for this weekend's the same as always: to get on the podium and take points of the guys ahead of me in the championship."

Josh Brookes – Kawasaki Bertocchi
“I can’t wait to get to Brno. I have been testing for the Suzuka 8-Hour in Japan for the last two weeks where I am riding a Honda ‘Blade, and am really looking forward to getting back onto the Kawasaki. The bikes are quite different, but both unbelievably powerful. I won’t make any predictions about Brno. I don’t know the circuit, so I just want to finish both races, and do my absolute best.”

Steve Martin – Foggy Petronas Racing
“Brno has traditionally been an unfruitful track for the team but I hope to be able to turn that around this year. I guess my first goal would be to make Superpole, but really I want points and that’s always my aim. We’ve made leaps and bounds with the development of the Petronas FP1 since last year and that really came to fruition at our Brno test last month, so that should put us in a good position for the race there.”