Three-time WSB champion Troy Bayliss is making a comeback at the age of 48. Bayliss plans to contest the 2018 Australian Superbike Championship aboard a Ducati sponsored by his own team. Bayliss won his third, and final WSB title in 2008. Bayliss also won a MotoGP race in 2006 while substituting for the injured Sete Gibernau on the Ducati factory team.
Bayliss has ridden in the WSB championship in his 40s, and shown excellent, competitive speed. We will be watching his return to racing with interest.
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TB is obviously not your average Joe – actually he is more of an alien in terms of skills and sportsmanship.
However he is 48 and I really hope he will not hurt himself as unavoidably he needs to compete with ultra talented young guns. This would not be a problem if aimed for a respectable result – the problem is that we all know he will aim to win!!
I wish him the very best. Though admittedly , I really wish that he would change his mind. I guess that his need for speed just won’t allow him to retire?
so the leg he broke at the Sacto Mile 2 1/2 years ago is all healed up now?
Nope. Doctor says two more weeks.
It took over 2 1/2 years to recover from a broken leg and at 48 he’s climbing back on a racing motorcycle? Not sure if that is brave or foolish. At any rate it’s his decision.
Micheal Schumacher need I say more…..oh but I will. The greatest racer of all time no is in a restive state from a skiing accident. I think when your number is up that’s it. The race is everything to race is to live , death waits regardless.
Edwards / Baylis
Imola 2002
My favorite racer of all time. I hope he doesn’t do this.
I agree with most of the above post….that being said…Don’t count him out in the end. He’ll be there.
His win in the 2006 GP race was one of the most amazing things I’ve seen. He was a guest rider, and came in and kicked butt. Most guest riders would be thrilled to break the top 12. Healing from injuries gets harder and harder when as you age, believe me I know. However if anyone can do it, it’s Troy.
Awesome, I think Troy is one of the greatest racers of all time, unbeatable in a Ducati 999. If he wants to race is due to his passion and the life he wants to live. YOLO.
I hope he does well and stays healthy. I don’t know much about Aussie racing, but if it’s like MotoAmerica he’ll be fine, but racing has risks and I hope his luck holds out. I would guess he’d be more likely to get hurt club racing.
Good luck Troy! I always heard you were one of the nicest guys in the paddock.
Some guys just don’t know when to hang it up. Like the Dunlop brothers, and we know how that story ended.
I hope the best for Bayliss. He was an exciting racer. I get it, but I wish he wouldn’t take this chance, though.
don’t do it.
+1
I agree. Reaction time and healing time etc: But as my saying goes we don’t tell an auto or motorcycle racer to slow down ! Live it while ya got it ! Kickass Troy !
Kim’s going to have a MELTDOWN.
Troy will have a great time.
ASBK has a great mix of talented veterans who are a bit to old for international rides; and, up and coming young riders who learn from them. The quality of the racing is very high as a result.
I worry about Troy’s physical resilience to injury, but his must have weighed that before making the decision. It will certainly give the series a boost and all the fans appreciate that.
I wish him well. Always one of the most exciting to watch in any race.
Goodonyamate!
Go Troy, go! Strike a blow for us old pharts.
I guess the paid autograph signing gigs have declined in recent years….
Hardly.
He’s still a Ducati ambasador and as a Triple WSB champion, not to mention one of the very few to have won at MotoGP and WSB, his fame and popularity is assured. Perhaps not for the mayfly fans of bike racing?
That his son is competing in the support 300cc class in Aussie Superbikes is a reason that the logistics work well for him.
I recall that being a family man influenced his decision to step away from the world championship racing schedule.
Said the same thing when Rossi broke his leg- “Stay down, champ…”.
While older athletes have shown incredible abilities in retaining physical fitness, the little things that add up to that lost one percent (reflexes, eyesight, depth perception, neuro-muscular abilities, etc.) are the things that send guys to their graves when they don’t stop.
Wow 48 is getting pretty old to play that game. Hope things go well for him. Hard to overcome the youth and eagerness of 19 and 20 year olds at that age.
Fun fact: In his MotoGP win in 2006 he beat Rossi to the finish line by .002 secs. (2/1000ths of a sec) costing Rossi 5 points and likely the championship that year. If Rossi had won he and Nicky Hayden would have tied on points and Rossi would have won the WC by virtue of more wins than Hayden.
(before the Hayden fan boys jump all over me I’m just stating ONE of the “what ifs” of that season. There were many that could have taken the championship any number of directions like there are every year)!
Actually, he beat Capirossi… and by 1.3 seconds. Rossi was way down the finish order by 38 seconds.
.
Still, the highlight of the race was absolutely Bayliss on the boil with the bike wiggling under him the whole race. The bike was a wild beast and he definitely showed the bike who’s boss.
.
Capirossi’s last “good” race too. All downhill for him since then.
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Looking forward to seeing what the Crocodile can do. Maybe put those young whippersnappers back in their place.
You are right Bob, dang… my memory is starting to go I guess..it was Elias who beat Rossi in Portugal by .002 secs in 2006. It was Elias’s only MotoGP win.
Yeah, and now Elias is a national Superbike champ, though not in his own country. And not as old as Troy, but still …
Mickey was simply stating “alternative facts” about the race…
LOL
Fake news is all the rage.LOL
Wait .. what? He’s returning to racing at 48? Well, I guess he has a better chance at winning than most …