[Ducati] WSBK Press Office Phillip Island Preview

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PRESS  RELEASE 
2008  HANNSPREE SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP® 
2nd  ROUND – PHILLIP ISLAND (AUSTRALIA)  -  29th FEBRUARY,  1st and 2nd  
MARCH 

PREVIEW 

Phillip  Island, Wednesday 27th February 2008 
MORE  ACTION EXPECTED AT PHILLIP ISLAND FOR SUPERBIKE ROUND 2   
The second round of  the 2008 HANNspree Superbike World Championship takes 
place this weekend at the  Phillip Island Circuit in Australia, just one week 
after a spectacular  start to the season in Qatar.  
Thrilling racing was  seen in both World Superbike and World Supersport and 
more of the same is  expected this weekend for round 2. Troy Bayliss (Ducati 
Xerox) took the first  win of the year at Losail, and the first win for the 
Ducati 1098, after an  exciting battle with Max Biaggi on an identical Sterilgarda 
Go Eleven machine,  while Fonsi Nieto swept to his maiden Superbike win on 
the powerful Alstare  Suzuki GSX-R1000 in race 2.  In Supersport Fabien Foret 
gifted the win to his Yamaha  World Supersport team-mate Broc Parkes after 
running out of fuel on the final  lap.  
With plenty of  Australian riders fighting for contention in both categories, 
above all Bayliss  and Corser in Superbike, a large partisan crowd is 
expected this weekend at the  splendid Phillip  Island  track. 
Form  Guide 
The first race  winners of the season were Ducati’s Troy Bayliss and Suzuki’
s Fonsi Nieto. The  two riders’ respective team managers Davide Tardozzi and 
Giacomo Guidotti, gave  their view on the opening races.  
“We are very pleased  with the result of the first race. We didn’t expect to 
be so competitive,  especially because as the Suzuki showed in race 2, we 
think the four-cylinder  bikes are still the favourites, at least at the Losail 
circuit” declared  Tardozzi. “As for Phillip Island, I think things will be a 
bit different because  we are sure that our bike, both judging from the past 
and the winter tests,  adapts well to this track …and also because Troy makes 
all the  difference!” 
“As for the race in  Qatar, we’re still clearly on  a high, but we are 
starting to ‘mindset’ again for Phillip Island. We only expected to be in the  
leading group, to be close to the front but not to win. We were very pleased  
with the performance of our rider and our bike, and the tyres worked perfectly”  
said Guidotti. “We did six days of testing in the winter at Phillip Island, 
three with the new bike, which formed the  basis for the bike that won in Qatar 
and which we have here. The  engine is very powerful, with a controlled 
delivery, and is very good at getting  the power down. This is our current package”. 
World  Supersport 
The opening round of  World Supersport sprung more than one surprise that 
regarded two of the top  teams in the category. Yamaha factory rider Broc Parkes 
may have inherited the  win from team-mate Foret but he had to fight for it on 
the last lap and the  Aussie will be going for more of the same in front of 
his home crowd. Meanwhile  over at HANNspree Ten Kate Honda, both Jonathan Rea 
and Andrew Pitt will be fit  to race after picking up gashes and bruises in 
their lap 2 eliminating crash.  Joan Lascorz from Spain looked promising on the 
Honda  Glaner machine in the later stages, as did Craig Jones (Parkalgar 
Honda) in the  early laps, while Aussies Garry McCoy and Mark Aitchison will also 
be working  hard to get their new Triumph 675 machines up to the required speed 
and  reliability levels. 
Pre-event  media activity  
The pre-event media  activity for the Australian Round will take place on the 
Thursday morning in the  circuit. Following the pre-race press conference for 
half-a-dozen top riders,  everyone will head out on to the starting-grid for 
some whip cracking on the  main straight, after which there will be a 
traditional Aussie barbecue, served  up by Australia’s finest Superbike and Supersport 
riders, including Troy Bayliss  (Ducati Xerox), Troy Corser (Yamaha WSB), 
Karl Muggeridge and Russell Holland  (DF Racing Honda), Broc Parkes (Yamaha World 
Supersport) and Garry McCoy  (Triumph SC). 
About  the Phillip  Island Grand Prix  Circuit 
The  Phillip  Island circuit is one of  the most spectacular tracks on the 
racing calendar. Situated on the picturesque  Phillip Island, a couple of hours 
drive south of Melbourne, it offers a  superb mix of fast and slow corners, 
which blend together to produce a very high  average lap speed. It measures 
4.445 km and has a total of 12  corners, 7 left- and 5 right-handers. Turn 11 is 
one of the corners that makes  all the difference, the long fast left-hander 
allowing riders to lay the bike  into the corner while still hard on the 
throttle and head for the line at over  300  km/h for a sprint finish. 
Lap  records: Race  – Troy Corser (Yamaha) 1’31.826 (2007); Superpole – Troy 
Bayliss (Ducati)  1’31.887 (2007); Best lap – Troy Corser (Yamaha) 1’31.826  
(2007). 
The  Australian Round of the HANNspree Superbike World Championship takes 
place from  Friday 29 February to Sunday 2 March. The action starts with World 
Supersport  and World Superbike free practice and qualifying the first two days, 
followed by  WSBK Superpole on Saturday at 16.00. The two 22-lap Superbike 
races are  scheduled to run on Sunday at 12.00 and 15.30, with the 21-lap 
Superbike race in  between at 13.20 local time.   
All  results, standings and information can be found on _www.worldsbk.com_ 
(http://www.worldsbk.com/)   



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