He is truly a great racer... yes there were times that he did not play it safe like he should have, but that is what made him the racer he is. The pure competition he brought to the game will be missed. Congrats on the championship and your retirement.
Some may disagree, but I would put Bayliss at the top as the greatest Superbike racer ever. Edwards beat him in 2002, and last year Toseland had the power which forced Bayliss to over-ride the 999 and taste gravel frequently. This year he was the only rider who could consistently put the big Duck near the front, and a worthy champion.
Some may say Fogarty was the best ever, and a strong case could be made for him as well, if for only the number of championships and and wins are greater in Foggy's favor. However, unlike Fogarty, Bayliss started very late in his pro career, "lost" 3 of his most productive years away from Superbikes in MotoGP, and is still competitive at close to 40 years old. If he hadn't chosen to leave WSBK '03-05, could he have 70 wins and 5 or 6 championships? Probably.
Now hopefully in 2009, Haga can remove the status of "greatest rider who HASN'T won the championship".
Fogerty reigned during the "Ducati Cup" years. I would say Bayliss, with a couple years exception was up against the litre bikes whereas Fogerty was up against 750s and other Ducatis. Bayliss had much tougher competition.
__________________
2003 HD FLHRI
2003 Ducati 999R #189
2009 Buell 1125CR (sold)
2007 Ducati 1100S MTS (sold)
2005 Honda 600RR (totalled)
2001 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1995 Ducati 916 (sold)
2004 Ducati 999S (sold)
2005 Honda 600RR (Oops, I did it again, this time in red/black - sold)
+1 It would be very hard for anybody to disagree with this, and he did it with class. He is the epitome of what a racer should be.
Matthew
Quote:
Originally Posted by sburns2421
Some may disagree, but I would put Bayliss at the top as the greatest Superbike racer ever. Edwards beat him in 2002, and last year Toseland had the power which forced Bayliss to over-ride the 999 and taste gravel frequently. This year he was the only rider who could consistently put the big Duck near the front, and a worthy champion.
Some may say Fogarty was the best ever, and a strong case could be made for him as well, if for only the number of championships and and wins are greater in Foggy's favor. However, unlike Fogarty, Bayliss started very late in his pro career, "lost" 3 of his most productive years away from Superbikes in MotoGP, and is still competitive at close to 40 years old. If he hadn't chosen to leave WSBK '03-05, could he have 70 wins and 5 or 6 championships? Probably.
Now hopefully in 2009, Haga can remove the status of "greatest rider who HASN'T won the championship".
Either way I wish that warrior the best next season, I hope he pulls it off no one is more deserving of a championship than that guy.
He started racing Ducati's in the Japanese Superbike Championship in 1994, on a 926 (888 Corsa) for Team Foundation, and finished 9th overall, as well as racing a Yamaha OW-O1 at Suzuka, then switched full-time to Yamaha's in 1995, until returning to Ducati in 2004 for Koji Renegade in WSBK.
He had a pretty awesome race here at Magny Cours, but his tyre choice was maybe not the best one for the second race, and I think he'll be straight up there with the Ducati next season ! Can't wait !
__________________ ...Just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water......
Some may disagree, but I would put Bayliss at the top as the greatest Superbike racer ever. Edwards beat him in 2002, and last year Toseland had the power which forced Bayliss to over-ride the 999 and taste gravel frequently. This year he was the only rider who could consistently put the big Duck near the front, and a worthy champion.
Some may say Fogarty was the best ever, and a strong case could be made for him as well, if for only the number of championships and and wins are greater in Foggy's favor. However, unlike Fogarty, Bayliss started very late in his pro career, "lost" 3 of his most productive years away from Superbikes in MotoGP, and is still competitive at close to 40 years old. If he hadn't chosen to leave WSBK '03-05, could he have 70 wins and 5 or 6 championships? Probably.
Now hopefully in 2009, Haga can remove the status of "greatest rider who HASN'T won the championship".
Bayliss; 50 wins from 149 starts and now 91 podiums. So, I think he's on top with his success ratio.
Fogerty reigned during the "Ducati Cup" years. I would say Bayliss, with a couple years exception was up against the litre bikes whereas Fogerty was up against 750s and other Ducatis. Bayliss had much tougher competition.
Fogerty also reigned during the 916 days when the RC-45 and ZX-7RR were very fast. Aaron Slight, Colin Edwards, Scott Russell, Anthony Gobert, Troy Corser... I wouldn't call it the Ducati Cup era!
Fogerty also reigned during the 916 days when the RC-45 and ZX-7RR were very fast. Aaron Slight, Colin Edwards, Scott Russell, Anthony Gobert, Troy Corser... I wouldn't call it the Ducati Cup era!
However during this time there wasn't a control tire so only 3 or 4 guys had the 'A' Michelins
When he told his crew to cut the rest of his finger off with some pliers, so he could race the second race, that was all I needed to know. A true BMF...
However during this time there wasn't a control tire so only 3 or 4 guys had the 'A' Michelins
I have always heard this, but who were those 3 or 4 guys? Castrol Honda and Ducati Corse? Considering that the Dunlops of the day weren't far off from Michelin, I can't imagine factory teams putting up with Michelin giving them inferior tires.
Fogarty reigned during a time when WSBK was the pinnacle of four-stroke motorcycle racing. These "tarted-up street bikes" had the track records at some venues over the 500GP bikes and their "racing god" riders. In the mid-90's, Honda spent more on the RC45 program than they did on the NSR500, if that gives you any indication of the series' importance.
Fogerty reigned during the "Ducati Cup" years. I would say Bayliss, with a couple years exception was up against the litre bikes whereas Fogerty was up against 750s and other Ducatis. Bayliss had much tougher competition.
Also, Bayliss replaced Foggy during the "Ducati Cup" years when he got hurt. Don't get me wrong, I think TB is one of the greatest but Carl on the 916 during the mid 90's was just as bad ass. The mid 90's was my favorite SBK era...
As someone who works in corporate America I tend to see a trend where the Metrics or numbers are emphasized rather than an individual and the specific task at hand. You see, the problem in corporate america is that many companies now have an innefficient workforce because they downsized, and terminated many positions based on Metrics alone losing brilliant people in the process. Numbers that say who did x amount of work within x amount of time. The flaw comes in to play when you have senior folks working on high level issues over an extended period of time but the numbers don't reflect, the difficulty, and the time involved for the high level task. Long story short, sometimes the better performer has weaker 'metrics' than the workhorse who completes high volume level 1 tasks.
Yes, Troy Bayliss has great numbers, but to even mention him in the same sentence as Carl Fogarty is pure stupidity. As a matter of fact, the only other person who is in Bayliss' territory is Valentino Rossi. In favor of Valentino Rossi, he does have natural talent. And this is what makes Bayliss better IMO. Bayliss works hard all the time, never took a year off to B.S. and smoke pot and stuff. Every race Bayliss gives 100% while Rossi can ride at 80 and score a podium among the elite riders on any given Sunday. Never once has Bayliss been caught with his pants down like the G.O.A.T. has in '06 and '07.
Bayliss is a man who fights tooth and nail for every point and rarely if ever gets worn out by the competition. The stuff Champions are made of? Sure Bayliss didn't win a championship in GP. But he developed a championship winning bike along with Loris Caporossi. And when the 990 was in it's ultimate form, he won handily at Valencia in '06. It's all about habitat. If you take a lion (who's the king of the jungle) and put him in the ocean to swim, he'll get eaten up by the sharks. Doesn't make him less of a king, does it? Bayliss VS. Rossi on a SBK??? The nod goes to Bayliss.
Now for all the folks that are about to say Edwards is the Bayliss stopper. Yeah, Bayliss caught a bloody nose in 2002. Someone made an excuse before saying that he was distracted about his GP contract for 2003 and stuff but I won't even go there. 2002 was Edwards year, and he beat Bayliss straight up. That's okay. But Bayliss has that 1 GP win to make up for that. The fly in Edward's soup. Edwards would much rather have that 1 GP win, and that's probably why he stays in GP rather than going back to WSBK where he would be competitive.
At the end of the Day, Bayliss is the epitome of what a racer is......What a hard worker in any field should be. Finish high on effort rather than falling short with potential. Give 100% all the time. Push the limits all the time riding to within an inch of the grass with shaking bars on the exits. Not willing to spare life or limb (er finger ) to achieve the desired result.
From humble spray painter to hero..... That is what makes Bayliss the best ever. Screw the metrics!
Troy Bayliss - 3 time world champion
) to achieve the desired result. 
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