Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) bounced back from a race 1 defeat by Max Biaggi (Suzuki) to grab the second race spoils and ruin the Rome rider's hopes of a double win at his home circuit in front of a massive 80,000 crowd. Troy led the first three laps of race 1 before Biaggi powered past and then Haga did the same three laps later. The Australian had to make four attempts to get past Haga (Yamaha) before clinching the runner-up slot. "I was struggling to make the bike do what we want it to do" declared Troy after race 1. "Everything was working OK but we really need to do something with the settings to get that last bit of feeling. I had three or four goes at getting round Nori, it wasn't easy and finally I managed but there was no way I was going to catch Max unless he made a mistake."

In race 2 Troy's Ducati Xerox crew made a slight change to improve the set-up and the Australian led every lap, but the crucial moment came on lap 15 when Bayliss and Biaggi almost touched at a slow corner and Troy was able to administer a two second lead to take his seventh win of the year. "It's been a really hard day, it's pretty warm out there and Vallelunga is a very physical track. I didn't see the race before our race, and when I went out on the sighting lap there was cement dust everywhere for the oil and I was really concerned about that so the track was warmer but slower as well because you couldn't use the right line. Congratulations to my Ducati Xerox squad, they've all worked hard. I put the bike down three times this weekend through a bit my fault and trying something new and sometimes you lose a little feeling as well. In the second race I wanted to change the rear tyre but my chief engineer Ernesto Marinelli wanted me not to and I went with his decision and I have to say 'Ernie, you're the man!". It paid off so I put that win down to him!"

  

Noriyiki Haga (4th and 3rd - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
Today was a bit disappointing for me with regards to the tyres. I used the same tyre in warm up as in the first race but in the race it didn't work as well as I'd hoped. I ended up focusing on my finishing position rather than the race win because the grip had gone. I chose to use my second bike for second race because the two bikes feel quite different. I found it to be better feeling with better engine delivery. In the middle of the race I tried to catch Bayliss but I was unable to and so had to settle for third and 16 valuable points.

Next weekend at Magny-Cours is going to be crazy with everyone going for the win but I'm still confident and determined. I've reduced the gap between Toseland and me and I'm not giving up yet!

  

Vallelunga Race 2 Resuts:

1 Bayliss      Ducati Xerox   39'30.861
2 Biaggi       Alstare Suzuki 39'32.292
3 Haga 	       Yamaha Italia  39'35.327
4 Corser       Yamaha Italia  39'44.627
5 Rolfo        Hannspree      39'51.709
6 Xaus 	       Sterilgarda    39'52.791
7 Lanzi        Ducati Xerox   40'00.708
8 Nieto	       Kawasaki PSG-1 40'00.847
9 Nakatomi     Yamaha YZF     40'10.987
10 Neukirchner Suzuki Germany 40'11.594