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Good start…Bayliss was quick, until his Ducati failed to proceed. 

WSBK

Troy Bayliss had a day to forget after his Ducati suffered a rare engine failure in Monza yesterday.

The Australian was expected to dominate at the Monza track, but it was Suzuki’s Max Neukirchner who finished first in the opening race to take his debut win in the World Superbike Class.

Yamaha’s Noriyuki Haga was second, with Bayliss a close third.

Bayliss got a great start in race two and was in a good position to challenge for the lead when his Ducati suddenly lost power on lap 21.

He eased around to the pitlane and rolled into the Ducati garage and took no further part in the race.

With Bayliss gone, a trio of riders were left to fight for the win.

Haga and Neukirchner were joined by Japanese rider, Ryuichi Kiyonari, who was called into replace Sofuoglu Kenan who withdrew from the race for personal reasons.

Kiyonari took the lead on the last lap and was in front going into the last turn, but carried a touch too much speed and was passed by Haga and then Neukirchner.

Haga held on to take the win from Neukirchner and Kiyonari, who might not have won but still impressed a lot of powerbrokers in the pitlane.

Australian Troy Corser struggled at Monza, finishing 12th in race one and eighth in the second race.

He nearly crashed out in the second race when he lost grip under brakes and crashed into Neukirchner. Both riders wobbled, but managed to stay upright and continue as if nothing had happened.

Fellow Aussie Karl Muggeridge failed to finish the first race, but fought back to take sixth in the second race aboard his Honda.

While Bayliss was disappointed by the Ducati failure he still managed to increase his championship lead over Carlos Checa from 70 points to 78 points after the Spaniard failed to fire in Monza.

“I knew today’s races would be hard and that proved to be the case,” Bayliss said.

“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.”

Bayliss didn’t want to talk too much about the engine failure in the second race.

“Race 2? Let’s just say I’m happy to leave Monza with a bigger points lead than I had when I arrived,” he said diplomatically.

The next round of the World Superbike Championship will be held at a new track in Salt Lake City in the US on June 1.