Troy was born on the 30th March 1969, the only son of Warren and Lorraine and his childhood years were spent on the family farm in Taree, New South Wales, Australia with his sister, Janna.

At the age of six, Troy’s father gave him a “Monkey” bike to ride around the farm and by the age of 10 he had decided it was time to go racing! For the next four years he traveled the circuits with his father racing in motocross and dirt track events.

His love of action sports then led Troy towards surfing and he spent all his spare time on the beach. He met his future wife, Kim, at the age of 18 and his craze for physical fitness made him turn his competitive spirit towards cycle racing.

What kind of cycle racing? All kinds… mountain bikes, speed trials, triathlons. If it had pedals, Troy raced it!

In 1992 the attraction of motorcycle racing was too great for Troy to resist and he returned to motorcycle racing, but this time around he would try his hand at road racing.

His first races were on his ZXR750 street bike but he thought that he had better “get serious” and changed it for a 250 Sports Production bike.

He rode the Kawasaki KR1 in the 250 Sports Production class and was soon winning club events. By the end of the year he entered a few Australian National Sports Production races and won those too. This was fun!

1993 was a busy year for Troy not only because he wanted to move up to a bigger bike but also because he married his girlfriend, Kim.

Having discovered the thrill of racing on circuits, and being eager to start moving up the ladder, Troy raced a Kawasaki 600 and progressed to competing in a few Australian national events by the end of the year.

In 1994 Troy rode the same bike to 6th in the Australian National 600 Championship and won the 600 race at Bathurst.

Troy was, by now, proving that he was a force to be reckoned with in Australia and in 1995 he confirmed that reckoning by taking 2nd place in the championship.

By 1996 it was time for Troy to move up another step and, with the backing of Team Kawasaki Australia, entered the Australian Superbike Championship and finished an incredible 3rd.


It was in 1997 that the world would see Troy compete in two great World Championship events and recognise his talent and potential. Not only did he improve upon his 1996 placing by finishing 2nd in the Australian Superbike Championship aboard the Ansett Air Freight Suzuki but, entered as a wildcard, he amazed world class teams by finishing 5th in both races of the Phillip Island World Superbike round.

If anyone needed further proof of his abilities, they surely had it when the Grand Prix event rolled into town at Phillip Island and, once again as a wildcard entry, Suzuki offered Troy a ride on their 250cc machine. Suzuki had struggled all year to have good results in this incredibly competitive class but Troy immediately qualified it 6th on the grid and even battled for the lead before finally finishing 6th in the race.

He thought that the GPs might be his next step but for a phone call from somebody watching that 250 GP race from the other side of the world. If Troy thought that he had made it in 1997, then he certainly hadn’t bargained on the events of the next three years.

Darrell Healey was the Englishman who had been watching the 1997 Phillip Island 250 GP from the other side of the world.

As owner of the Team GSE, he phoned Troy directly after the GP and invited him to move to England to race the GSE Ducati in the British Superbike Championship.

At the beginning of 1998, Troy moved his family to England and finished 8th in what was probably the toughest National Championship in the world: The British Superbike Championship.

Having settled into the incredibly professional GSE team, Troy was ready for action.

Qualifying in six pole positions and five front row positions (excluding poles), he scored six wins and 14 podium finishes in all and won the British Championship by 28 points.

Troy was British Superbike Champion! Because he had won the series on a Ducati, his trophy was presented by none other than the World Champion, King Carl Fogarty. Next stop: the United States of America!


2000 was a typical example of how unpredictable racing can be. Troy had already moved from Australia to England and now, in February of 2000, he moved from England to the US in order to ride a Ducati for the Vance & Hines team in the AMA Superbike Championship. He immediately impressed with his aggressive riding style and set pole position at his first race in the Daytona 200, but crashed out during the race. He then moved on to round 2 at Sears Point and, once again, put the Ducati onto pole position but the race was cancelled because of adverse weather conditions.

By this time, Troy was straining at the leash to show how fast he could be. He wouldn’t have to wait long… Back in Phillip Island, Australia - the place where it had all started for Troy three years ago - World Champion Carl Fogarty had crashed during the second leg of the World Superbike event there. He was badly injured. Troy's phone rang again… he was approached by the Ducati factory in Italy to replace the injured “King Carl”. As Troy said, “I get a call from Ducati asking if I was interested in the ride. I didn’t need asking twice!”

Troy crossed the Atlantic again to replace the injured Carl Fogarty and soon astounded the public with a series of spectacular performances. He and the Ducati Infostrada team would only have to wait a few races before he chalked up his first race win at World Championship level.

The win, at the incredibly fast Hockenheim circuit in Germany, was followed by another win in front of a supportive British crowd around the very technical Brands Hatch circuit. Troy was now proving himself convincingly.


Troy’s first ever visit to Assen in Holland left fans in no doubt that he is one of the most spectacular riders in the world. Through awful weather conditions, his battle with the Japanese rider Noriyuki Haga had TV viewers gasping. On a track that was dry on one side of the circuit and wet on the other, the two riders swapped the lead corner after corner until Troy slid off of his Ducati and walked back to the pit garage.

It was a walk that had become a common sight during 2000 but everyone around Troy realised that his ability to push the limits is the trademark of a future World Champion.

Despite missing six races in the 2000 season he had finished 6th in the World Superbike Championship. Troy’s rise to the top has been meteoric but now he faced his biggest step in motorcycle racing: The final step to becoming the Superbike World Champion.

Combining talent, determination and consistency is what is needed to win the World Superbike Championship. And that was exactly what Troy did. The 2001 season was a fresh start for Troy. From the very start, he put himself on the podium and continued to stay there race after race. And it wasn’t long before he started putting himself at the very top of the podium. By the end of the season, Troy had logged an impressive six wins and nine other podium finishes.

Despite his dominant riding, however, the title was not as easy as it looked for Troy. In the first race of the 11th round at Oschersleben, he experienced his only technical problem of the year and had to withdraw from the race. This allowed his nearest rival to climb back up in points and threaten Troy’s championship hopes. This disturbing change of events might have pressurised other riders, but it didn’t bother the Aussie. Instead, Troy put the incident behind him and proceeded to get back on the podium in the second race. This race day highlighted what is best about Troy: His ability to take each race as it comes. No other rider comes close to keeping the focus on the moment the way Troy does.

Troy helped Ducati back to the very top in 2001. He scored their 100th pole position, helped them win their 10th Manufacturers’ Title and won their 9th Riders’ Title.

As World Champion, 2002 wouldn’t be any different for Troy. It would be another year made up of individual races. It would be another year in which he was determined to succeed.

The reigning World Champion started 2002 on an incredible note with six 1st place finishes, putting him into the record books with the most consecutive wins at the start of any season.

Even after his streak was brought to a halt at Sugo - probably the toughest track to win at for non-locals - Troy resumed his double-winning form at Monza and then again at Lausitzring and Misano. He tallied an incredible six double-wins, with 14 wins overall in the season.
Troy showed his characteristic grit when he crashed at Brands Hatch and damaged his back and ribs. In spite of the severe beating, he got back on his bike and rode through the pain to 3rd and 2nd place finishes. Not even the crash at Assen, which allowed his nearest rival to slip ahead in the standings by one point, would cause the Aussie’s confidence to waver: “Now I’ve got to go out and do it all at Imola.”

Imola will be forever remembered. Racing fans around the world saw one of the most spectacular races in history at this “winner takes all” event. Troy Bayliss and Colin Edwards fought two incredible battles, swapping the lead and sometimes their paint too! In the end there could only be one winner and on that day it was Edwards.

Troy finished the championship second overall, but no one will forget the grace in which he conceded his title: There was still a big smile for all his fans as he stepped up to the podium after this final race of the season. Troy’s tremendous efforts throughout the year had, however, helped Ducati win their 11th Manufacturers’ Title.

2003 was to be a big year for both Troy and Ducati as they moved into MotoGP together. The effort invested in the new Ducati MotoGP Team had been massive and pre-season tests were encouraging. Troy was to have to deal with the pressures of being at the sharp end of a project in which both the press and fans now expected so much. Few doubted that Troy would carry his characteristic “never say die” attitude with him, but apart from it being the first year for the Desmosedici machine, most realised that few riders actually make the transfer from Superbike to Grand Prix successfully. They should not have counted Troy in that number! Few were disappointed when the lights finally turned to green on Troy’s first MotoGP season. It may have been a different championship but it was the same old Troy.


Two front row positions, three podium places and 6th in the World Championship was an incredible start in MotoGP. Just two points in the series stole 5th position away from Troy and the “Rookie of the Year” award but if the world of Grand Prix had never heard of Troy Bayliss before they certainly knew him now. In just the second GP of the year and at a circuit he’d never seen before, Troy took the lead in the South African GP at Welkom from the third row of the grid and held it until one-third distance. He fought tooth and nail with reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi at half race distance and eventually brought the Ducati home in 4th position.

By the next race in Jerez, Troy Bayliss was not only on the podium but also on the lips of every race fan around the world. This 34-year-old family man, who had been given the chance to rocket to fame in World Superbike, was now doing the same in MotoGP seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was now rubbing shoulders with the fastest riders on the planet. To Troy, it was just another bike and just another race and his “just get on with the job” attitude continued to win him fans from all around the world.

2004 will see him line up with his team-mate Loris Capirossi once again. The difference this year is that the team now have a full year of experience with the Desmosedici and Troy has learned the circuits. Competing at this level will never be easy, but Troy Bayliss is now a contender and the world is ready to watch him fight for his first victory.