Oli Bayliss suffers ankle fracture in crash on Ducati WorldSSP debut
Barni Ducati's Oli Bayliss suffers a broken ankle in an accident at Portimao as his WorldSSP endeavour gets off to an inauspicious start during testing
Oli Bayliss was forced to cut short his maiden outing on WorldSSP machinery at Portimao after a crash that left him nursing a broken ankle.
The Australian - the 17-year old son of triple WorldSBK Champion Troy Bayliss - was making the first laps in Europe ahead of his maiden WorldSSP season with the Spark Barni Ducati team but crashed on the exit of the Turn 5, the tricky cambered left-hand hairpin.
A subsequent trip to hospital revealed the teenager had suffered a fracture of the lateral malleolus, forcing him to miss the remainder of the test in Portugal.
“Due to a crash this morning, Oliver Bayliss was brought to the hospital of Portimao, where medical scans reveal a fracture of lateral malleolus on the right ankle.
“Oliver will try to recover for the next test scheduled for the 16th-17th March at the Misano World Circuit.”
Bayliss’ injury marks an inauspicious debut aboard the Ducati Panigale V2, which makes its debut in the WorldSSP category this season following a change in the regulations to allow models up to 960cc.
Bayliss is one of seven riders making the switch to Ducati - which is competing in a full WorldSSP capacity for the first time since 2006 when it ran with the Ducati 749R.
He will be joined on the grid by Nicolo Bulega (Aruba), Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac), Filippo and Federico Fulgini (D34G), Federico Caricasulo (Althea) and Max Kofler (CM Racing).
