Press release

BAYLISS CRASHES OUT OF DONINGTON SUPERBIKE RACE 1 AND INJURES RIGHT HAND

Donington (UK), Sunday 1 April: Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) crashed out at Coppice corner on lap 6 of the first World Superbike race at Donington Park today, injuring his hand in the process.


Troy was accelerating through Coppice while in the lead and the rear of the bike just snapped away from me and he high-sided into the gravel. In the early afternoon he was taken to the nearby Derbyshire Royal Infirmary for reconstructive surgery on the little finger of his right hand, which had been mangled in the crash.

Lorenzo Lanzi was left to fly the flag for the Ducati Xerox Team but the Italian could only manage fifth in the two races as James Toseland (Honda) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) shared the two wins.

“My team did wonders this weekend because I crashed twice” declared Lorenzo. “The first day was wet and I was unable to do many laps. The second day I crashed again when it was important to do a lot of kilometres. I started from row 2 so I think I can be quite satisfied with the result. We improved a lot in race 2 after making several minor changes, but I got a bad start. I was quicker in the second race and had the same pace as the guys up at the front in the final stages. It was a great battle with Ruben, but with a better start I could have fought for the podium with the top 3”.

Race 1: 1. Toseland (Honda); 2. Corser (Yamaha); 3. Biaggi (Suzuki); 4. Haga (Yamaha); 5. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox); 6. Nieto (Kawasaki); 7. Laconi (Kawasaki); 8. Neukirchner (Suzuki), etc. Race 2: 1. Haga; 2. Biaggi; 3. Corser; 4. Xaus (Ducati); 5. Lanzi; 6. Laconi; 7. Rolfo (Honda); 8. Smrz (Ducati), etc.

Points (after 3 of 13 rounds): Riders – 1. Toseland 115; 2. Biaggi 110; 3. Haga 88; 4.  Corser 81; 5. Lanzi 66; 6. Bayliss 64; etc. Manufacturers – 1. Honda 124; 2. Suzuki 110; 3. Yamaha 98; 4. Ducati 94; 5. Kawasaki 40.