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TOP FIVE FINISHES FOR TROY BAYLISS AND MICHEL FABRIZIO IN FRONT OF HOME CROWD AT MONZA

As Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) himself predicted yesterday, today's races consisted of hard fought battles. Despite a DNF in Race 2, a third place finish in Race 1 means that Troy and his Ducati 1098 F08 have nonetheless further increased the championship lead. Michel Fabrizio rode hard in both races to take ninth and fifth position finishes, and hence 18 extremely important championship points.

Troy Bayliss (Race 1 - 3rd, Race 2 - DNF)

Race 1 saw Bayliss caught up in a fight against Max Neukirchner and Noriyuki Haga, a closely contested race from the start right down to the finish line, in which Max eventually prevailed and Bayliss crossed the line in third. In Race 2 Bayliss' 1098 F08 suffered a technical fault, an engine problem that resulted in oil leaking, and which unfortunately led subsequently to his retirement from the race.

"I knew today's races would be hard and that proved to be the case. In Race 1 I felt the bike was missing a couple of things and struggling on the long corners but in the end I was happy to take a third place in Race 1. My compliments to Max who takes his first Superbike win, both him and Nori rode a great race and there was nothing I could do to get past them. Race 2? Let's just say I'm happy to leave Monza with a bigger points lead than I had when I arrived."

Michel Fabrizio (Race 1 - 9th, Race 2 - 5th)

In Race 1 Michel Fabrizio was able to make up several positions, having started thirteenth on the grid and took home valuable points from his ninth place finish. Race 2 panned out in a similar way and the young Italian rode even harder to pass several strong rivals, taking away 11 useful points from a solid fifth place finish.

"I'm very happy at the end of the day. There was some real racing going on out there today, and I had to fight hard to make up the places that I did. I needed to take points away this weekend and I did that, and in front of my home crowd too, so I can say that I'm pretty satisfied really."