Troy Bayliss is a deity.

Troy Bayliss is well on his way to a Doug Polen style domination of World Superbike.

May 27, 2002

Who'd a thunk it? In this year of 2002, 7 years after the World Superbike debut of the Ducati 916, we have a rider dominating the series on it like no other since Doug Polen. On (theoretically) the oldest bike in the paddock. Amazing.

Bayliss' performance in the first race at Silverstone is hardly believeable. Here's a guy who falls off twice, manages to keep the engine running both times, and still finishes sixth after being deep in the teens after each crash. I believe he passed Steve Hislop 3 times in one race! Now that's making the paddock look like fools. We talk about rain specialists, but Bayliss is never mentioned. I think it's safe to say he's a rain guy.

I'd be surprised if Bayliss doesn't win half of the remaining races just because he wants to do it. There's nobody in the paddock who has his determination right now. I don't think he necessarily has more talent than the rest (sorta like Fogarty), but he has more will to win than anyone. A boring year? Maybe. But the end result may be a string of new records like we've never seen before.

So where's Nicky Hayden when you need him? Dominating in the US of course... Do we have a future battle on our hands?

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