Valencia (Spain), Sunday 6th April: Australian Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) increased his championship lead today in Valencia after taking an impressive second place finish in Race 1 and then repeating that performance again in Race 2. Towards the end of Race 1 Troy was lying in fourth place but due to the unexpected crash between frontrunners Neukirchner and Checa in the very final stages, he took a very useful 20 points. In Race 2, a strong start put Bayliss immediately ahead of the pack but a hard battle against Haga ensued and ultimately Bayliss relinquished the win to the Yamaha rider.

Bayliss, the current championship leader, now has 128 points and a 48 point advantage over second-placed Nieto. Ducati leads the manufacturers championship with 140 points.

Troy Bayliss (2nd place - race 1, 2nd place - race 2)
"I was very happy with my results today, although it was a bit of a strange weekend, having had some problems with the bike in practice and qualifying. My congratulations go to Lorenzo (Lanzi), I'm very happy for him to have taken the win and he really deserved it. I thought I was going to finish in fourth and couldn't believe what then happened with Neukirchner and Checa on the last lap but that's racing I guess and gave me a second place finish. In race 2 I had a good battle with Nori. At one point I was in a position to fight for the win but in the end Hagi was in control. Anyway, I was hoping for good points as points make prizes and so we move on to the next round in a strong position."

RESULTS: Race 1 - 1. Lanzi (Ducati), Bayliss (Ducati Xerox), Corser (Yamaha) Race 2 - 1. Haga (Yamaha), 2. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox), 3. Checa (Honda)

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: Riders - 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 128; 2. Nieto (Suzuki) 80; 3. Corser (Yamaha) 72; 4. Checa (Honda) 72...... 9. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 37. Manufacturers - Ducati 140; Yamaha 95; Suzuki 86; Honda 73; Kawasaki 22