Three-time World Superbike Champion, Troy Bayliss attended Queensland Raceway V8 Supercar pre-season test day to announce his four-wheel ambitions. Bayliss retired from WSB at the end of 2008 after dominating the series and moved back to Australia and the Gold Coast at the beginning of the year in order to pursue a long-held passion to race in the V8 series.

Bayliss joined Whincup and Lowndes at Queensland Raceway on Wednesdy as the V8 teams tested their cars ahead of the season’s first race in Adelaide next Friday.

“I am really excited about this test,” Bayliss admitted, ”I have openly said for quite a while that I viewed V8 Supercars as the next step in my motorsport career and this is not something I am looking at trying once just to experience it, My long term goal is to compete in select Fujitsu races and shoot for an endurance seat in 2010.”

Bayliss told the Daily Telegraph that he could have stayed on bikes but would instead fight to earn a drive in a V8.

“I have always been associated with the best equipment on track so, when I made the decision to retire from World Superbikes, I met with my manager about trying to align me with the best possible team in V8 Supercars,” he acknowledged “There was one big added bonus with TeamVodafone, as Roland Dane is a massive Ducati fan and, of course, that sits well with me.”

“At least, this way, I will know I am in the best possible gear to give the best possible performance and this way I am not wasting anyone’s time “I know at nearly 40 I am never going to win the championship,” Bayliss said. “But I am still at peak fitness and if I can adapt well enough to the car then I have the potential to be a good endurance driver.

“Whatever happens, I will need to be able to make 100 per cent commitment to it,” he said of his potential career change, ”My two-wheel career ended like a fairytale and I certainly don’t want anything in the future to take the shine off that.

Source | dailytelegraph

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