Troy discusses the preseason tests and his adaptation to the Camel Honda team
Troy Bayliss is generally recognised as a friendly, easy-going character in the paddock and an aggressive and determined competitor on the track, a true warrior who gets the most out of his talent in a race, more than in qualifying or testing. Last year, at the end of a difficult season which saw himself and his team-mate Loris Capirossi struggle with a bike which had been taken down a less-than-perfect path of development, the former World Superbike Champion signed off with a superb podium at Valencia, demonstrating the tenacity he had needed to gradually improve the set-up of his Ducati.
Having moved from SBK to MotoGP two years ago, the switch to Camel Honda at the end of 2004 signals another decisive point in his career, which for Troy is another major source of motivation:
“For me the switch from Ducati to Honda is a bigger change than coming from Superbikes to MotoGP”, commented the Australian before departing for Qatar, where he will begin three days of tests tomorrow. “But it is a challenge which I am ready to take on and it gives me a lot of motivation.”
“Occasionally it’s still a bit of a strange feeling because at the end of the day Honda has been the rival bike for such a long time,” he continued. “But the team is fantastic and we’re already getting a good rapport going. There’s a really good team spirit not just with Sito, Santi, Ramon and my mechanics but also with Alex and his team. It’s incredible how hard everybody is working to help me find a better feeling with the bike, which is still a fast machine capable of winning races, as the lap times of my factory colleagues have shown and the times I set myself in Spain at the end of 2004. The first stage of our preseason preparations has definitely had high and low points, with great results at Jerez and a few too many difficulties at Sepang. But Malaysia has never been one of my favourite tracks and things went a lot better the following week at Phillip Island.”
Troy admits that he has to improve several areas of the set-up of the bike but he is ready to work with the team with the objective of being ready for the first race of the season and remains positive as he continues his learning period.
“At the end of the day the season starts at Jerez, where we looked strong, whilst Malaysia is towards the end of the season and we will have had a lot of time to get ready for that race,” he smiles.
The Camel Honda team will be back on track at the Losail circuit in Qatar alongside several other top MotoGP teams for three days of tests starting tomorrow.
“I can’t wait,” says Bayliss. “I want to complete as many kilometres as possible and continue the work we started in Australia. We won’t make major changes to the set-up but we’ll just keep going step by step, trying to find a good rhythm and improving the feeling, working on the electronic management system and the suspension. Qatar is a strange circuit where I haven’t ridden much and where we have very few references. The Superbikes have just raced there so the track might not be too dirty but you never know, it only takes a bit of wind to blow sand onto the track. Anyway, it’s good to be able to test there.”
Finally, Troy commented on the new rules in MotoGP, which will see quite a few changes next season.
“I’m not convinced by the new flag-to flag rule in case of rain but, as far as I’m concerned, I think it’s a good idea to just have one qualifying session on a Saturday afternoon. That way on a Friday we can concentrate solely on finding a good set-up for the bike and there’ll be more time for testing, without worrying about lap times”.
After the Qatar test and before the first IRTA sessions in Spain, Troy Bayliss, Alex Barros and the rest of the Camel Honda team will be in Italy on the 16th March for the official team presentation in Milan.