GixerGaz
21-02-2007, 13:06
http://www.gixerjunkies.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7730&stc=1&d=1172059583
Reigning double World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss is confident his excellent pre-season preparations can convert into race victories during Saturday's Qatar season-opener - providing he can break away from the chasing pack.
The Australian, who completed a dream 2006 by taking his 'first and last' MotoGP win as a stand-in at Valencia, is concerned that the growing horsepower advantage of the Japanese four-cylinders will leave his nimble Ducati 999 v-twin - expected to be replaced after this season - a sitting duck on the long straights.
"Testing [at Qatar] in December looked great on paper but if I come on to the straight first and there's anybody within half-a-second, they're going to pass me," AAP reports Bayliss as saying. "I have to make a break and that's very hard to do. You can try as hard as you can to get away, but you chew your tyres up, it's going to be a difficult situation.
"Although we've basically got the same [technical] package as we had last year with a few minor changes, the team has worked really hard on the settings over the winter and we're still confident we can do a good job with what we've got," he warned. "Pirelli has also worked well and come up with some new tyres, which have gone fantastically well in testing. There's no doubt we are in a good situation."
First qualifying at Qatar takes place on Thursday.
Reigning double World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss is confident his excellent pre-season preparations can convert into race victories during Saturday's Qatar season-opener - providing he can break away from the chasing pack.
The Australian, who completed a dream 2006 by taking his 'first and last' MotoGP win as a stand-in at Valencia, is concerned that the growing horsepower advantage of the Japanese four-cylinders will leave his nimble Ducati 999 v-twin - expected to be replaced after this season - a sitting duck on the long straights.
"Testing [at Qatar] in December looked great on paper but if I come on to the straight first and there's anybody within half-a-second, they're going to pass me," AAP reports Bayliss as saying. "I have to make a break and that's very hard to do. You can try as hard as you can to get away, but you chew your tyres up, it's going to be a difficult situation.
"Although we've basically got the same [technical] package as we had last year with a few minor changes, the team has worked really hard on the settings over the winter and we're still confident we can do a good job with what we've got," he warned. "Pirelli has also worked well and come up with some new tyres, which have gone fantastically well in testing. There's no doubt we are in a good situation."
First qualifying at Qatar takes place on Thursday.