Bad start to the season for Bayliss

such a shame... heart broken.


Broken collarbone dashes Bayliss championship hopes
article: Print Craig Duff

January 11, 2008 12:00am
A CRACKED collarbone may have ended Troy Bayliss's dreams of a third
World Superbike championship before the 2008 season has even started.

The Australian was testing his Ducati 1098 at Phillip Island yesterday
when the rear tyre lost traction and he flipped over the bars at the
90km/h MG corner.

His machine then barrelled into the side of Kawasaki rider Regis
Laconi.

The Frenchman was unscathed in the fall and rushed to check on
Bayliss, who took a minute to get to his feet.

A composed but tight-lipped Bayliss confirmed he had cracked his right
clavicle.

"It looks that way, yeah," Bayliss said, holding an icepack on the
injury as he walked unaided to a car for the trip to Melbourne for
x-rays.

Doctors said yesterday afternoon he'd chipped his clavicle near the
sternum.

The injury will not be plated, with Bayliss told to rest for 21 days
before contemplating a return to riding.

With the first round of the 15-round championship to be held at Qatar
on February 23, Bayliss's bones are unlikely to healed enough for him
to be competitive, given the upper body strength needed to control the
1000cc machines.

But there is every chance he'll still be on the grid.

Bayliss's pain tolerance is extraordinary - he didn't miss a race
after the top two joints of a finger were amputated following a crash
in the UK last year.

But he is also on record as saying the World Superbike competition is
so even a bad round can spell the end of a rider's championship hopes.

Bayliss will probably look to eke out some points at Qatar before
resuming his assault on the podium places at Phillip Island on
February 29-March 2.

The 38-year-old declared late last year that this would be his final
season and he is chasing a third world title on three different Ducati
models.

Bayliss's crash came on the last day of official pre-season testing at
Phillip Island, on a day where the 4.45km circuit saw track
temperature hover near 60C.

With the race tyres frying in the heat no one managed to better their
time from Wednesday's testing, meaning Bayliss was officially the
fastest rider with a time of 1min 32.2sec.

Just 1.3 seconds separated the top 10 riders.

Suzuki's Yukio Kagayama was only 0.1sec behind Bayliss, followed by
Ducati riders Michel Fabrizio and Ruben Xaus and Australia's Troy
Corser (1:32.7).

Corser, who has won a record seven races at Phillip Island since 1995,
was delighted with his form over the three days.

He, like Bayliss, is chasing a third title.

"It was probably just too hot for the tyres today, but I was pretty
happy with how it all felt out there." Corser, 36, said yesterday.

Ironically, Bayliss was also slated to attend, but opted to put in
more laps -- which is when the crash occurred.

Broc Parkes set the fastest lap in the 600cc World Supersport ranks,
with four Australians in the top six times.

Parkes, who finished second last season, will be the early favourite
for this year's title.