2008 Team Biographies

The 2008 Ducati Xerox World Superbike Team has a formidable combination of talent and experience in its rider line-up. Australian born Troy Bayliss embarks on his third consecutive season for Ducati, desperate to improve on his fourth place Championship finish in 2007. Alongside Troy in the garage is a new rider in the Ducati Xerox World Superbike Team for 2008. Michel Fabrizio, an Italian who has been racing since the age of six and has already experienced two World Superbike Championship seasons, starts for the first time with factory Ducati Xerox Team.

Australian born Troy Bayliss was a very late starter when he started racing seriously at the age of 23. Then his career really took off with two victories in 1997; one in the Australian round of 250GP and another in the World Superbike Championship – these earned him a ride in the British Superbike Championship where he took the crown in 1999 before joining the Ducati World Superbike team in 2000. A year later he took home the Riders’ Title. After losing out to Colin Edwards in the legendary Imola 2002 finale, Bayliss spent the next two years with the Shell-powered Ducati MotoGP team. Then the 2005 season with a satellite Honda was one to forget, after a mid-season training injury put him out of MotoGP racing.

Finally Bayliss returned ‘home’ to Ducati in 2006 and claimed his second World Superbike Title, and even came back for one last race on the Ducati Desmosedici MotoGP bike that he had helped develop in to a winner. A lights to flag victory at the season finale in Valencia was proof that Bayliss is one of the sports top riders.

Ducati’s partnership with Troy Bayliss has been a very successful one over the years, resulting in two World Superbike championships, he is now looking to improve on his thirteen podium visits, seven race wins and 372 Riders’ Championship points he notched up on his way to fourth overall for Ducati in 2007.

In 2008 he will continue racing for the Ducati Xerox Team, riding the new Ducati 1098 F08.

Despite starting his first season in the Ducati Xerox World Superbike Team, Michel Fabrizio will be looking to assert himself as one of the fastest riders in the Championship. The 23 year old is used to winning and will see this season as no different.

Michel began racing seriously in 1999 when he took part in the Honda Trophy events and was almost immediately on the podium after just two races. The next couple of years saw Michel emerge with a series of wins and titles in the Coppa Italia (2000) and Challenge Aprilia, Supercampione and Sport Production (2001).

After an appearance in the 125 GP Championship in 2002 Michel was offered the chance to race the European Superstock category where he won the title in 2003 at the age of just 19.

In 2004 Michel was back again in the Motorcycle Grand Prix scene, but this time on the WCM machine in MotoGP. The next year Fabrizio scored some good results in World Supersport with Team Megabike Honda, followed in 2006 by a move up to World Superbike where he remained for the 2007 season and now enters the 2008 as a brand new addition to the Ducati Xerox Team.