The final MotoGP event of the year at Valencia next weekend will find newly crowned WSB champ Troy Bayliss aboard a factory Ducati (the bike intended for the injured Sete Gibernau). Bayliss, who rides for the Ducati factory WSB team, was drafted to ride the injured Gibernau’s MotoGP weapon at the final round of the series. Bayliss has had good results at Valencia in the past, and should be lose and relaxed in his one-off MotoGP ride this year.
Bayliss, of course, spent two years aboard the factory Ducati MotoGP machine with Loris Capirossi before being moved to the WSB series this year. Putting Bayliss on the factory Ducati puts one more potentially quick bike in the mix for the shoot-out between Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) and Nicky Hayden (Honda), who are currently just 8 points apart in the battle for the MotoGP crown this year. Hayden’s best bet is to win the race with at least one rider between him and Rossi.
