Troy Bayliss has called a definitive halt to his World Superbike career after this weekend’s racing in Thailand. The three-time champion initially came out of retirement after six years to replace Davide Giugliano in Phillip Island and after a second outing on the Aruba.it Ducati in Buriram, the 45 year old now feels he has nothing more to prove.
“It’s been fun, I came back in particular circumstances and wanted to do one more event after Phillip Island to see how it would go. I love racing, Ducati and the people that work here and it’s been really great to race with the Panigale R Superbike. I was lucky enough to finish my career fit and healthy and I’ve seen that I can still be fast, but now I am ready to return to enjoying life with my family in Australia. I want to thank everyone for their support and now I leave things to the young talents.”
Bayliss finished ninth and eleventh in Sunday’s two WSBK races and admitted the heat and humidity made life tougher than he was expecting.
“All in all, and considering that conditions here are some of the most difficult I’ve experienced, I can say that I’m fairly satisfied. I’ve never liked it when it’s this hot and they were, as I expected, two very physical and difficult races, especially the first as I didn’t even take a drink in my suit! I thought I’d do a little better in the second race but I knew it would be tough, so it didn’t go too badly I guess…”
Ernesto Marinelli, Ducati’s SBK Project Director, has paid tribute to Bayliss and doesn’t feel the Australian has lost any of his brilliance while out of the sport.
“Troy has proved that he is still very fast and in the races, despite the heat, he put on a great show with his aggressive riding. We thank him for having given his all with the same determination he has always shown, we couldn’t have asked for any more. Having him on the bike again for these two events has been great, time might have passed but some things never seem to change – Troy is always Troy.”
