Ducati to give '09 bike outing.

Interesting, Will the 2009 new rider be present though???
It seems Shakey has signed a letter of intent to replace TB next year, the way he is riding this year who would bet againt him.

Scoot I would not bet against him, if he gets the job and has the Brit chamionship behind (as if he wont)then there will be no stopping him, will be nice to see a British rider on a full works bike for a change, and kicking foreign R's

This is exactly the reason why you want to be in a factory team as satellite teams get nothing to test, no upgrades - nadda!

So people who think that Bayliss and Fabrizio's 1098's are the same as Biaggi and Xaus's - GET REAL!

Scoot, Did you just mean that Shakey is trying to make a statement by dominating the BSB championship this year that he is the man to succeed Bayliss, or has he actually been in talks with Xerox Ducati ?

Whatever you think about Ducati, you have to be impressed with these guys.
We are not yet done with June, and they are already testing their WSB 2009 bike AND their 2009 MotoGP bike simultaneously. Some of the other teams could do well to take notice, and actually start their season fully prepared rather than still developing the bike.

Shane Byrne has emerged as a target for the Xerox Ducati team to race in the World Superbike Championship in 2009.

Team boss Davide Tardozzi has confirmed that British Superbike series leader Shane Byrne is one of the riders on their wish list to join the factory squad next season.

Gaz satellite teams get nothing to test, no upgrades ?? since when,
Max Biaggi and Ruben Xaus will be testing at the Automotodrom Brno, or are they having a booze up???
Gil Motorsport Kawasaki Supersport team, with riders Katsuaki Fujiwara and Chris Walker.will test there as well.

Any chance Shaky might b****r off before end of the season,it might make BSB worth watching again!!!!

SHAKEY WILL NEVER RIDE IN WSBK HE WILL GET EATEN ALIVE AS THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WOBBLING AROUND UK CIRCUITS WITH A BUNCH OF KIDS AND TAKING ON THE BEST IN THE WORLD WHICH SHAKEY IS NOT.

WHY COULD HE NOT DO ANYTHING ON THE SUZUKI OR HONDA IF HE IS SUCH A GOD WHY DID HE HAVE TO WAIT TO GET THE BEST BIKE BEFORE DOING ANYTHING IF XEROX DUCATI SIGN HIM I WILL EAT MY HAT TRAVEL TO ITALY TO SEE IF TARDOZZI HAS FINALLY LOST THE PLOT BECAUSE IF HE SIGNS A BRIT TO REPLACE KING BAYLISS THEN HE HAS GONE GA GA .

Yamaha r1 who do you feel should replace Bayliss cos i can't think of anyone who is upto the job ?

Hey R1 I do hope you are hungry

Troy Bayliss, former GSE BSB rider on a Ducati, laterly WSBK champion on a Ducati.
Neil Hodgson, former GSE BSB rider on a Ducati, laterly WSBK champion on a Ducati.
James Toseland, former GSE BSB rider on a Ducati, laterly WSBK champion on a Ducati.

Anyone see a pattern forming.... Go shakey

Well said Scoot. Best response to the doubters I've seen on here yet. And also worth noting that Shakey has actually beaten both Toseland (on a GSE WSB Duke) and Hodgson (on that very factory Duke he won the Championship on) in 2003 when he did the wildcard double at Brands. No slouch is our Shakey !!!

BINZA....I AGREE IT IS GOING TO BE HARD TO REPLACE KING BAYLISS BUT SHAKEY IS NO REPLACEMENT HIS ONLY WSBK WINS WERE AT A CIRCUIT HE KNEW TAKE HIM AWAY FROM HIS DOMESTIC COMFORT ZONE AND HE IS ****....MOTO GP PROVED THAT!!!!

Dear Danum, before posting rubbish mate I suggest that you do some research!

They have NOTHING to test (i.e. parts etc.) and they are at Brno to try different setups to try and get the bike to work better.

Yamaha R1, I'm afraid you're talking rubbish my friend. People seem to think that because Shakey is British and also from Kent that he must have spent every waking minute from the age of 16 doing laps of Brands Hatch GP. In all honesty, he's probably done no more laps on Superbike spec machinery than Troy Bayliss himself. Bayliss popped up in WSBK in Y2K, and only had 3 years out ('03 - '05) in MotoGP. Brands GP has been on the World calendar more or less ever since WSBK started, so Bayliss has probably competed in about 12 races (6 meetings) there at WSBK level and maybe 4 races (2 meetings) whilst in BSB in '98 & '99 - 16 races in total. Shakey also joined BSB in '99, and had (continued..)

... two years out in '04 & '05 in MotoGP, returning in '06. If you include the WSBK wildcard round in '03, Shakey has therefore competed in 16 races (8 meetings), which is therefore no different to Bayliss. Bayliss's Superpole time last year at Brands GP (albeit on a 999 not a 1200) was only a few 10ths of a second quicker than Shakeys fastest lap in qualifying for this years Brands GP BSB round, bearing in mind that the factory 999 would be tuned and fettled more than a BSB spec bike, so with the extra few cc's it would appear that there 'aint much in it. Shakey certainly doesn't know Brands any better than Bayliss. MotoGP was always gona be a flop - the bikes he rode were all slow crap.

nitro nori....i am sorry but you are a plonker shakey has done brands more times than bayliss how many times does bsb go to brands every year you need to think before you speak plus a certain interveiw where shakey said he knows the place so well he could go round with his eyes closed!!!!

Yama-****, I've already worked out how many times Shane Byrne has ridden around Brands Hatch GP on Superbike Spec machinery, which is all that is relevant when comparing his track knowledge to Bayliss. You can't count the BSB visits to the 'Indy' circuit as that is only half of the track and a completely different layout, different fuel load, different number of laps, different number of left v right handed corners - so different tyre performance. Bayliss (like most of the top boys) is highly adept at learning circuits quickly. The fact that Byrne may have perhaps done a handful of track days there or something like that in the past on road-spec bikes doesn't have any bearing on anything...

...- its about how many GP track races they have done, which is equal. What Byrne SAID in an interview means nothing. He may well feel he knows the place so well he could ride it with his eyes shut but then the same could be said of Bayliss, seeing as he's raced the GP track as often as Byrne, and seeing as WSBK goes to Brands GP every year without fail. There's probably a track common to both WSBK & MotoGP that is on the WSBK calendar every year (maybe Assen) that Bayliss will have visited the most, but I'd say that Brands GP must definitely be up there with Phillip Island as two of the tracks Bayliss has raced the most. Maybe you should do a bit more thinking before hitting the keys pal.