Monza was full of racing fans, but the paddock also saw high profile personalities like Davide Brivio and Ben Spies for Yamaha, Leo Mercanti and Roberto Colaninno for Piaggio/Aprilia, Regis Laconi (who has retired from racing after his horrific crash last year at Kyalami), Marco Simoncelli who helped do an excellent commentary for Italian network La7, Gabriele del Torchio and Filippo Preziosi and 3 time Superbike World champion Troy Bayliss for Ducati.

Bayliss has been Italy take part in the 26th edition of “Diece Colli ” bicycle race where Bayliss almost won, but a fall on the final laps took him out of contention and in the World Ducati Week at Monza, but the Aussie will also be at the Mugello race track this upcoming Tuesday and Wednesday doing some serious testing for the struggling Ducati Xerox team.

Bayliss will be testing some technical updates and tires on the 1198R and hopefully he can come up with some solutions and ideas to help Michel Fabrizio and a very unrecognizable Noriyuki Haga get out of their current slump.

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With only two podiums and 46 points after three rounds and Michel Fabrizio who continues to complain of front end and brake problems, the Xerox Ducati technical team and Fabrizio headed to Mugello and spent the last two days testing to sort out their problems before the next round in Assen.

The test was concluded yesterday after some delay to bad weather, but Fabrizio’s team finally found the solution to why his Ducati 1198 was acting up, that helped Fabrizio regain the confidence with his bike infact the Italian was able to do 30 laps and post a best time of 1′52.6 on race tires.

Before lunch Fabrizio was suffering from groin pain and satisfied with the work done up until then, he preferred to conclude testing early in order to seek medical advice and rest so as to be in good shape for the next race at Assen.

Continue reading: WSBK: Michel Fabrizio Finds Solution to his Problems

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The Xerox Ducati WSBK team has announced today that they have re-signed Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio for the 2010 World Superbike season.

Haga and Fabrizio are currently second and third in the world standing with three rounds remaining and Haga is just 18 points behind leader Ben Spies.

Noriyuki Haga:

“I am very happy that this great team continues to believe in me! I thank Ducati, the team and everyone that was involved in making the decision. I have a great relationship with my team and with Michel, and so I am more than happy to stay here in 2010. We don’t yet know how this year will end, but what is certain is that I will continue to do my best, as I do every weekend. Knowing that I have a job for next year will surely spur me on; I will give 200% in Imola this weekend, and then if that’s not enough I’ll redouble my efforts at Magny and Portimao!”

Continue reading: Haga and Fabrizio Re-Sign for Ducati in 2010

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It’s hard to forget and let slide into media oblivion someone like Troy Bayliss, who delighted motorcycle racing fans for so many years with his three World Superbike titles, his popularity and down to earth attitude and when he retired, left a void in more than one Ducatista heart.

So when we find something about what King Troy is up to we like to share with you.

After testing V8 Supercars with Paul Morris Motorsports, Kelly Racing and TeamVodafone, Bayliss will be finally getting a chance to race on four wheels in two V8 races. The Aussie champion will debut in this year’s L& H 500 and Super Cheap Auto Bathurst 1000 V8 Supercar endurance events at Phillip Island and Bathurst, alongside Dean Fiore in a Paul Morris Motorsports prepared Triple F Racing Commodore.

Troy Bayliss said:

“It has been a long time coming and now the deal has been put together. I am really excited to be making my debut in the V8 Supercar series. It’s going to be a huge challenge but it is something that I’ve longed to do for some time. It’s going to be a massive test for me especially at Bathurst, where my first priority will be to finish and then we’ll see where it may lead to for next year. I have watched Bathurst on the couch since I was a kid. I can’t believe I am actually going to be there driving the mountain.”

Source | livenews

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After his crash at WSBK Donington, Noriyuki Haga has undergone successful surgery to his right arm and will return to Italy today. A plate and screws were inserted to set the bone and no complications arose during the procedure.

Haga is suffering multiple fractures to his scalpula though, but requires no surgical intervention. He is set to fly back to Italy to undergo physiotherapy and while his appearance at Imola has been cancelled, Haga should participate in Brno.

Source | Ducati Press and Motoblog

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Xerox Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi has confirmed this morning from that Noriyuki Haga will not need to undergo surgery on his vertebrae.

The fractures that they saw on the first scan were from a previous injury on his T8 and T9 vertebrae. Nori has a crooked back, but he’s told us that he’s had so many knocks and injuries that he can’t remember all of them. He’s got an incredibly strong constitution, you just have to remember what he did last year at Miller Sportspark.

He’ll be operated on this afternoon by Dr. Rajan and they’re going to insert a plate and screws in his ulna, but we don’t know how long his recovery will take, but he told me he wants to be back for Brno at all costs.

Tardozzi also denied speculation that he will be looking for a substitute rider in case Haga cannot make it back for the Brno race.

Source | gpone

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For all you NitroNori fans we have and update from Italian website GPone.com regarding the Xerox Ducati rider who was suspected to have fractured his T8 e T9 vertebrae and was airlifted to a hospital in Derby. At the hospital, Haga was stabilized and had fluid drained from around the injury as a preventative measure and surgery was placed on hold so that Haga could undergo a second scan.

The latest scan fortunately does not show any recent vertebral fractures. Haga however will be operated on to set his ulnar fracture while a left shoulder-blade fracture is still being investigated.

Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi commentated:

This is good news and will be confirmed on Monday. Nori will certainly be operated on his right ulna because it’s a compound fracture and the shoulder blade fracture is still being investigated. It’s obvious that if he doesn’t have to have surgery on his vertebrae, he could be back after a month of rest.

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The second race at Misano was under sunny skies and on a completely dry track, which saw Jonathan Rea dogfight with Xerox Ducati riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio from start to finish and beat Fabrizio to the checkered flag by 0.063 of a second.

It was Noriyuki Haga that took off from sixth on the grid and was first at turn 1, with Rea in hot pursuit and Fabrizio, Smrz, Checa and Byrnes trailing behind.

Ben Spies, winner of race 1, encountered technical problems and started slipping behind and pulled wide looking at the back of his Yamaha R1. Dropping to the back of the field, and finding a solution to his problems, began lapping with times almost equal to those leading, but had his work cut out for after having dropped to 17th place managed to finish 9th, but was extremely frustrated and angry, which we all saw when crossing the finish line, he punched his Yamaha on the tank.

On lap 4 Rea made his move on Haga, with Fabrizio fastly closing in on his team mate, but it was down to third on lap 6 after Fabrizio made his move. The two team mates gave an exciting example of close passing and on the 12th lap that Japanese rider set his fastest lap with a 1.37”135.

Continue reading: WSBK Misano Race 2 - Jonathan Rea takes his 1st Win

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