Troy Bayliss made a surprise comeback to the Superbike World Championship on Sunday. The 45 year old, who hasn’t raced for 6 years, said his return was good fun and it made him “feel young again”. Perhaps this was most evident during Troy’s short battle with Sylvain Guintoli.
Bayliss made a great start to the first race and on lap 4 he was holding position ahead of Guintoli, the reigning World Champion. Guintoli out-braked Bayliss down the inside of the hairpin, but Troy got back ahead on the exit when he pulled alongside and forced the champ to sit his bike up. It was assertive stuff, and although Bayliss slipped backwards later in the race, it showed his killer instinct hadn’t disappeared in retirement.
When you’re racing a superbike at age 45, pushing around the World Champion is definitely the sort of moment that would make you feel young again.
Motorsport Snippets 