Troy ‘Baylisstic’ Bayliss – he’s a household name (certainly the households I run around in) and one the best humans to bump into in the Australian Superbike paddock.
Bayliss is best known for his success in the World Superbike Championship (WSBK), where he became a three-time champion, but he also enjoyed success in MotoGP and is still a regular trackside.
He initially gained attention as a dirt track and motocross rider in Australia before he transitioned to road racing. He would make his mark in the WSBK with Ducati, riding for the Ducati factory team and claiming the title in 2001, 2006, and 2008. Along the way he won 52 WSBK races, the third most of all-time.
His aggressive riding style, skill and consistency made him a formidable competitor in the Superbike series. One of the most iconic moments of Bayliss’ career came in 2006 when he returned to MotoGP as a temporary replacement rider for the injured Sete Gibernau. Despite limited experience in MotoGP, Bayliss won the final race of the season at Valencia.
After retiring from full-time competition in 2008, Bayliss remained involved in motorcycle racing. He occasionally participated in special events and made guest appearances. Bayliss’s contributions to the sport, particularly his success with Ducati in the WSBK, have solidified his status as one of Australia’s most accomplished motorcycle racers.
As a human he is warm with a wicked sense of humour and if you’re not a d*ckhead, he will give you all the time in the world. Currently he’s busy running the Desmo Sport Ducati team with co-owner Ben Henry and taking on the 2024 ASBK Championship with young gun, Broc Pearson.
Speed is in the blood and Bayliss has passed down his raw talent and relentless work ethic to his son, Oliver. Oli keeps his Dad’s hair thinning and finger nails well chewed as he takes on his third season in the WSBK SuperSport class.
I caught up with Troy at a round of ASBK to chat through his Dream Garage. Give Troy a follow on Instagram @baylisstic21 – he’s good for a giggle.
Daily Ride: KTM 450
“My KTM 450 flat track or motocross bike,” he says. “Because we now live on some land, I able to ride them often.”
I did enquire as to why he didn’t go with a Ducati and Bayliss explained the simple reason: “Ducati don’t have a motocross bike yet, or least we won’t see them till 2025 but KTM have always helped me out and looked after me with bikes. And now that we’ve moved to some decent-sized land, I’ve got the opportunity to ride whatever I want, so I’m back riding these bikes more often.”
READ MORE: Ducati teases motocross future
Something Special: Ducati World Superbikes
“It’s got to be my three (WSBK) Championship winning bikes, they’re pretty hard to beat,” he admits. “We’ve got some beautiful bikes here at the race team but having the factory bikes that I won on, I have such good memories from them.”
So where do these prized beasts live?
“I keep them down at the workshop, I did have a special bike room in the house but now that we’ve moved I haven’t got around to recreating a space like that.”
Every rider would love to keep their winning race bikes but not every racer can, however it’s hard to say no to Troy Bayliss.
“The first one was a gift from winning the championship,” he explains. “It’s funny how it happened, when we won the championship in 2001, they wanted me to run #1 in 2002 and I said ‘well, I’ll run #1 if you give me that bike, the championship winning bike, otherwise I’m running #21’ – so I got the bike.”
I call this the ‘Bayliss School of Negotiation’.
“The other two I bought off the guys for a bit of a discounted rate.”
Track Toy: Apache helicopter
And finally Troy’s pick for our track toy.. the most high powered, outrageous mean machine one could dream of.
“An Apache attack helicopter” was not what I was expecting him to say!
If you’re not familiar with the American designed and built Boeing AH-64 Apache, it is the deadliest, most feared attack helicopter in the world. The Apache has served in pretty much every conflict since its release in 1986 and is named after a Native American tribe.
“I’ve got to do lots of good things when I was back racing,” he says, explaining his unusual choice. “Each round you have to turn up at the track and do the PR activities. It was at World Ducati week I got to go up in an Apache attack chopper with the big machine guns at the front. They told me to put the helmet on and where ever your eyes are going, you just hit this button and guns point to where you are looking. So the pilot handed me the controls and said ‘do what you want, you can’t crash it because if you get out of control I’ll save any trouble you get into.’” Challenge accepted I say! “So I was pilot of this Apache attack helicopter all over Misano and that’s probably the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life… besides winning the championships of course but that’s a different kind of cool. I felt bullet-proof in that thing.”
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