Troy Bayliss clinched his third and final World Superbike title with third position in race one at Magny-Cours on Sunday - then celebrated in perfect style by claiming his 50th WSBK victory, in only his 150th start, in race two.
Here, the Ducati Xerox star - now just one round away from retirement - reflects on his achievements...
Q:
A third world title, and in your final year of Superbike racing, a dream result?
Troy Bayliss:
Yes, a dream result for sure. For several reasons… for the fact that it’s my third title, in what is my last year of Superbike racing; for the fact that I’ve now won on three different generations of Ducati Superbike; and for the fact that I win for the third time as part of such a fantastic Italian team. We came so close to tying it up at the last round at Vallelunga but it wasn’t to be, it’s been a rollercoaster ride emotionally speaking and so I’m extremely happy and relieved to have done it this weekend!
Q:
And the 1098 wins in it’s very first year? How was it and how did it compare to your previous race bikes?
Troy Bayliss:
The 1098 has been a fantastic bike, we’ve had to work a little on the settings throughout the year, but I can say that the bike and I have got on great together. Sitting on the bike, it’s not at all like the 999, but much closer to the older style Ducati bikes, more similar to the 996 or the 998.
Q:
Was it as easy as it sometimes looked to win this year?
Troy Bayliss:
It may have looked easy but I’ve been up and down in the points, going up to 78 points and then back down to 28, then up to over a hundred, and back down after Vallelunga. So no, it wasn’t easy, it’s been a lot of hard work and although I’ve had some great races, I also had some little dramas. It just comes down to the fact that other riders have had more dramas than me I guess!
Q:
What has been your favourite race moment this season?
Troy Bayliss:
High points? Well the double win in Phillip Island, then the double win in Brno was very special too as I hadn’t won there before, and of course to wrap up the championship is a real highlight!
Q:
And the lowest point?
