Foggy: Bayliss better than Corser.

With an Australian World Superbike war looming for 2006 - when former champion Troy Bayliss will return to take on reigning champion Troy Corser - it is Bayliss whom four-times World Superbike champion Carl Fogarty believes "is the better rider".

Speaking exclusively to Crash.net, Foggy was asked how highly he rated the existing World Superbike field and - having raced against Corser almost continuously from 1994 until his career ending accident early in 2000 - the Briton used the Alstare Suzuki rider to gauge the speed of the current crop.

While racing together, Foggy claimed 41 of his 59 WSBK victories - and his four world titles - while Corser took 17 wins and became the then youngest ever World Superbike champion in 1996, the only year in which he finished above Fogarty in the championship standings.

However, Corser effectively 'lost' a season when he made an ill fated move to 500GP for 1997 - he would return to WSBK in 1998 - and was later signed by Fogarty himself to lead the newly formed Foggy Petronas Racing team from 2002-2004. Corser took two poles and a podium with the FP1, before switching to Alstare Suzuki for this season.

Although the former rivals appeared to establish a useful working relationship at FPR, since the split each has criticised the other - and, despite Corser clinching the 2005 championship with relative comfort, Foggy feels other riders were faster.

"To be honest, when I see someone like Troy Corser still winning, someone who I used to race against and beat for 4-5 years running really, he wasn't..." began Foggy, before pausing and restarting his reply.

"Troy is a good rider, he's not somebody I would say is world class - that might sound like I'm having a go at him, or might sound a bit wrong - but it's because he was racing when I was racing, and I always felt that he was someone I could beat no problems at all, because of how I was as a rider and how he was.

"He's just won this year, so you look at the current crop and think, well you know? Chris Vermeulen and Haga were faster riders this year than him - better riders - but they didn't have what he had.

"Troy is a very fast rider - very smooth, very fast, very consistent - but for me he's not, like I say, the fastest guy out there. The younger riders were, like Vermeulen and Haga, but they didn't have the package he had.

"So I look at the others and think 'well maybe they're not as good as they should be' - and they're not as good as they used to be in Superbike. That sounds a bit unfair, because Troy's still winning, but it's mainly because of the package he's got more than anything.

"But now Bayliss is back. Bayliss is a better rider (than Corser), I don't care what anyone says - although I don't think anyone would disagree with me to be honest - he is a faster rider, he is a better rider and providing the Ducati is close enough to Suzuki then Troy Bayliss will beat Troy Corser in the championship," Foggy declared.

Carl was then pressed further about his prediction - and why he believes that Bayliss, after spending three often tough years in MotoGP, can come back and be the man to beat:

"Bayliss is very good, I rate Troy very highly," said Foggy. "He was someone that I think went to MotoGP too old and was maybe on the wrong kind of bike (this year). I don't think the Honda suited him, he rode really well on the Ducati when he first went there - he was better than Capirossi at times - but for whatever reason he didn't get the opportunity with Ducati again. I think that was more down to politics than anything else.

"I think as rider he's better than Corser, the only weakness I see in Bayliss winning the championship is how strongly the Ducati can be against the Suzuki - and Bayliss does ride really, really on the limit - and sometimes a bit over it - whereas Corser will finish every race.

"I'm not sure whether Bayliss will finish every race - if the bike isn't quite as fast as the Suzuki I think maybe Bayliss will push a little bit too hard and fall once or twice, like he did in 2002 (against Colin Edwards)," Foggy admitted.

Fogarty's only other 2006 championship contender was Bayliss' new Ducati Xerox team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi. The young Italian won his first two WSBK races this season, but Foggy felt the Italian will need another year under his belt before he can mount a title challenge.

"Lanzi's very fast - I like Lanzi as well - but he might just be a bit too young, a bit like Ruben Xaus a few years ago - it might just be expecting him to win a year too early for me," he said.

Foggy is currently running a competition, with a selection of racing related prizes - including a PETRONAS FP1 road bike - on offer. Visit www.nokiaFPR.com to take part.