The final act of the 2006 World Superbike Championship takes place this weekend at the Magny-Cours circuit, near Nevers in central France. After Troy Bayliss's splendid triumph last weekend at Imola for the Ducati Xerox Team, the Manufacturers' title now remains to be assigned. A fifth place (11 points) is all that is required for Ducati to clinch title number 14 in this particular category.

Troy Bayliss arrives at Magny-Cours directly from Paris, where together with team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi he took part in a promotional event for Oakley and Ducati France, which included a photo-session beneath the Arc de Trionfe.

"I feel really good, we've achieved what we set out to achieve," declared Troy. "It's not over yet though because when you win the championship you've got to back it up and prove you are the number 1 and also we want to win the manufacturers' championship so it'll be lovely to finish that off this weekend and we'll all be very happy. I've never been to Magny-Cours before and just rode the scooter round for a couple of laps. Davide Tardozzi took me around and showed me where we were good last year. The layout didn't do a lot for me but I think we can find our way around here pretty good and you never know when I actually ride the real bike I might take a liking to it."

Photo courtesy of Alexandre Moulard