March 23 saw the first SuperBike race of the year which has recently been held in Qatar. SuperBike has some talented riders and though less technical than MotoGP is within 4 seconds of MotoGP times on a high speed track like Qatar. With Toseland off to MotoGP this year, there was no question of the reigning SuperBike champion winning the opener. As usual, rule changes during the off season had many – myself included wondering if the current rules wouldn’t favor Ducati too much since the up to 1200 cc rule would allow them to run their 1098 cc motor against the 4 cylinder 1000 cc motors. However early qualifying saw the twin Troy’s from Australia (Courser – Yamaha and Bayliss – Ducati)
swapping fastest laps leading up to the weekend. An unfortunate decision by Bayliss to do SuperPole on the back-up bike on qualifying tires saw Bayliss qualifying back in 7th and seemingly ending his chances for the weekend. Like many bike races though, it was to be decided by tires and timing and a calculated and inspired ride by Bayliss say him take the lead and the win on the final lap of the first race. Race 2 saw a much more determined Courser lead much of the race only to eventually lose to a patient and tire nursing Fonsi Nieto on a 4 cylinder Suzuki GSXR-1000 who waited until the end to come alive and win in a convincing manner. A great day for Ducati and/or Bayliss fans as well as those who hoped SuperBike would be able to avoid rules infighting as to whether the new rules favored the 2 or the 4 cylinder bikes.
There was some local entertainment?but the last lap of Race One was a thing of beauty for Bayliss fans.
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