Troy Bayliss bounces back at record pace in Valencia

© Ducati Corse. Despite losing most of his right little finger in a race one crash at Donington Park two weeks ago, Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) proved not only fit to ride at Valencia but capable of the best ever SBK time on day one. His 1'34.599 was only just ahead of the previous best, but was nonetheless set on mass-produced race rubber, as qualifying tyres are not made available to any rider unless and until they qualify for Superpole on Saturday. A good day for Ducati was a great day for the locals, with Sterilgarda Berik's Spanish star, Ruben Xaus, scoring second quickest time on his year-old factory machine.

Championship leader James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was instantly on the pace at Valencia, despite not testing here in the official sessions in mid-March. The most recent race winner in SBK, Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) was fourth fastest today, only just ahead of Max Biaggi (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) who is currently second overall. The Valencia day one top six is rounded out by Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) who, like team-mate Haga, has tested at the Spanish circuit on his all-new 2007 machine recently.

© FGSport. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) was seventh in the day one standings, just over a second from his leading team-mate, but arguably the ride of the day once more came from Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Germany) who was eighth quickest. On his home circuit, Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) was ninth, just ahead of Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda) and his team-mate Joshua Brookes. Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) went 12th fastest.

World Supersport Championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) led the day one charge towards ultimate Valencia Supersport honours, scoring the quickest day one lap of 1'37.521. He was followed, 0.208 seconds behind, by Katsuaki Fujiwara (Althea Honda) and then Kevin Curtain (Yamaha SSP Racing), who is still recovering from recent collarbone surgery, after a crash at Donington. Local rider Pere Riba (Gil Kawasaki) followed up his pole at Donington with a fourth best time at his home track. With double World Champion Sebastien Charpentier missing due to pelvic and coccyx injury, he was replaced by Andrew Pitt at Valencia, and the 2001 champion was immediately effective, going fifth on the day one leader board. Another former World Champion, Fabien Foret (Gil Kawasaki) was sixth fastest. Many riders opted to sit out the first untimed session, held in patchy wet conditions this morning, and only ride in the actually qualifying session itself. Barry Veneman (Pioneer Hoegee Suzuki) added another manufacturer to the front two provisional rows, going seventh fastest.

Ayrton Badovini (Biassono Unionbike MV Agusta) was the early leader in dry conditions in the 'big' Superstock class, with a slender 0.177 second advantage over Michel Pirro (Team Lorenzini by Leoni Yamaha), and a 0.332 gap back to Claudio Corti (Team Lorenzini by Leoni Yamaha). Didier Van Keymeulen (TTSL MGM Racing Yamaha) went fourth, with Donington race winner Niccolo Canepa (Ducati Xerox 1098) fifth.

Domenico Colucci (Ducati Xerox 749) got the jump on his peers after a sudden deluge of rain and thunder in the Superstock 600 session at Valencia, and on a wet rack none came close to his best time of 2'11.412. French teenager Sylvain Barrier (Yamaha Coutelle Junior Team) scored second best, with Andrea Antonelli (Team Italia Megabike AX) third, ensuring there would be three different machines in the top three places.