The only glimmer of hope for his rivals was a trio of consecutive DNFs at Monza and Miller Motorsports Park that lifted Carlos Checa into touching distance of the championship lead.

However, despite a fairly quiet performance at the Nurburgring and Misano, Bayliss was still out-scoring his rivals with his unwavering consistency.

A third double at Brno put him straight back in charge, though, before he put the demons of his Donington Park tumble from 2007 behind him with a narrow aggregate win over Tom Sykes.

His season was by no means perfect though, with Bayliss' relaxed style occasionally getting away from him on occasions. Falling at Miller Motorsports Park, Donington Park and Vallelunga, the latter when just metres from the finish line and a title win, when trying just a little too hard proves Bayliss is as much of a fighter as he is content to settle for points.

Sealing the inevitable at Magny-Cours, Bayliss went on to finish his career in the most appropriate way with a double win at Portimao.

An almost perfect year, leading to a perfect conclusion, Bayliss' achievements cannot be underestimated, while the fact he polled with an average of 9.5 shows that you have acknowledged him too.

As such, to all who voted for Bayliss, this message is for you:

"Wow, that's another nice surprise following on from the Moto Sprint awards in Italy. Thanks to everyone who voted for me, and thanks to all the British fans who have supported me and the Ducati team over the years.

"I'll miss the racing and everything that goes with it so much, but I'm not disappearing - you'll all be seeing me again next year for sure!"


1st – Troy Bayliss
2nd – Noriyuki Haga
3rd – Troy Corser
4th – Max Neukirchner
5th – Ryuichi Kiyonari
6th – Ruben Xaus
7th – Carlos Checa
8th – Max Biaggi
9th – Jakub Smrz
10th – Michel Fabrizio