Bayliss brings 999 era an end for Ducati Xerox as Toseland takes title -ozzy go-

Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) brought the Ducati 999 era to an end
as he finished second and fifth in the final two races of the year in
front of 75,000 spectators at Magny-Cours in France. With both
wins going to Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) and the title in the hands
of James Toseland (Honda), the 38 year-old Australian concluded
the 2007 championship in fourth place on 372 points. Team-mate
Lorenzo Lanzi had a disappointing end to his period in the factory
Ducati Xerox Team with a nasty high-speed crash at the start of
race 1. Lorenzo suffered bruising to his right shoulder, elbow and
knee, which forced him to miss race 2. The Manufacturers’ title
went to Yamaha, with Ducati in second place, but there was
satisfaction for the Italian manufacturer today as 19 year-old
Niccolò Canepa clinched the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup with the
new twin-cylinder Ducati 1098S in its first year of competition.

“I guess it was a little bit up and down today” declared Troy. “It
took me a little while to actually get going in race 1 because the
guys were going really fast at the start of the race. But I
managed to keep the momentum going and started reeling them
back in. Our bike’s not slow but there are a couple of tracks
where we suffer a little bit in acceleration and this is one of them,
and when I do make a pass I have to cover the way well
otherwise it’s a waste of time. I thought I was going to do a better
job in the second race, we put a harder front tyre and changed
the rear setting a little. It’s hard to say if it was better or worse
really, I did my best lap on the last one but it was all over by
then. I’m happy to have taken the 999 to the end of its career,
I’ve had a great time on it and it’s been kind to me…once! And
now I’m really looking forward to riding the new bike next year!”

“It was a real pity” declared Lorenzo. “Today I felt really good
and I was sure I could have got a couple of good results because
I had a really good feeling with the bike. I wanted to make a
good start and I did, and I was almost immediately taking Corser
for second place. Then I felt the rear go away from me, I thought
I had overdone it in the curve but after looking at the replay I
realised that James touched me. Unfortunately these things
happen, that’s racing, I’ve also touched other riders’ wheels when
overtaking. Luckily nothing’s broken, but I’ve got some severe
bruising which prevented me from taking part in race 2.”

Davide Tardozzi, Ducati Corse Superbike Director, added: “We
won seven races this year, demonstrating that the 999 is still a
competitive bike. Although we lost the title, we know that we
could have been in with a chance of winning it. A few too many
mistakes during the season unfortunately prevented us from
coming to Magny-Cours for the final round with the title still to
play for, but we know we’ve got a...” full story on ducati.com