Preview - Ducati

Ducati Xerox Team riders Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi will be back in action again this weekend for the seventh round of the 2006 World Superbike Championship at the AutoMotodrom Brno in the Czech Republic. Just a few days after the conclusion of a successful three-day test at the Lausitzring, the Australian championship leader and his Italian team-mate will be donning their leathers once again as the series passes the half-way point to move into the second half of the season.

Despite eight wins so far and a 94-point lead under his belt, 37-year-old Bayliss from Taree, Australia will not be changing his strategy for the rest of the year. "I'll be attacking for sure in the remaining rounds" he declared. "I really like the Brno track, I had a podium there in 2003 in MotoGP and good results in the last test there a month or so ago so I'm looking forward to going back. My 999 is almost perfect now, so we've been working more with the settings in the last tests, little things to improve the tyre life and conserve the rear tyre. We came away in the second long-run at Lausitz a lot better than the first one, and we went under the record at the test here so all in all I'm feeling pretty confident this weekend. I think all the teams have picked it up a little bit as well and are getting the bikes working better. Right now Pitt, Haga, Corser and Toseland are all riding strong and they'll give us some good races."

Lorenzo Lanzi is currently lying seventh in the championship standings on the second Ducati Xerox 999 machine with 80 points. The 24-year-old Italian aims to break out of his run of below-par results with a couple of good performances at Brno. "I really like the Brno track" he says, "and the tests we did here one month ago and in Germany this week went well so we will try and start the weekend in the best way by getting the right set-up and setting some good times on the Fiday. When we did the test in June I wasn't far off the pace of the top guys, especially with race tyres so I feel I can obtain some good results in this race. Moreover there will be a couple of coaches of my fans here at Brno, it gives me great pleasure that they follow me everywhere. For sure they'll be cheering for me, hopefully I can give them something to enjoy this weekend!"

THE CIRCUIT
Name: Automotodrom Brno
Length: 5.403 km.
Pole Position: left.
Corners Left/Right: 5/9.
Race distance: 2 x 20 laps/108.060 km
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after 6 rounds of 12): Riders - 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 254; 2. Haga (Yamaha) 160; 3. Toseland (Honda) 157; 4. Corser (Suzuki) 149; 5. Barros (Honda) 146; 6. Pitt (Yamaha) 128; 7. Lanzi (Ducati) 80; 8. Xaus (Ducati) 70; 9. Walker (Kawasaki) 64; 10. Abe (Yamaha) 60. Manufacturers - 1. Ducati 260; 2. Honda 196; 3. Yamaha 189; 4. Suzuki 188; 5. Kawasaki 98; 6. Petronas 4.

STATISTICS:
Best lap: Corser (Suzuki), 2m02.694s (2005).
Lap record: Haga (Yamaha), 2m03.747s (2005).
Superpole: Corser (Suzuki), 2m02.694s (2005).

2005 RESULTS: Race 1 - 1. Corser (Suzuki); 2. Toseland (Ducati); 3. Laconi (Ducati). Race 2 - 1. Haga (Yahama); 2. Corser;