Bayliss enjoyed a promising opening day at his final Monza race weekend with fourth in morning practice and second in afternoon qualifying, eventually finishing 0.369secs from Neukirchner - who got a tow from team-mate Kagayama on his fastest lap.
"It's gone pretty well today yes. We made a few changes for the qualifying session this afternoon. I did more than race distance on the front tyre this morning and nearly race distance on both tyres this afternoon, and times were very consistent which is good news," said Troy. "We'd like to improve further tomorrow, with a few different things to try out.
"Several people are going strong of course, just as we expected. Max [Neukirchner] is going well today but he didn't do as many consistently fast laps as we did this afternoon," confirmed the Australian. "Anyway, we're very happy for the time being and will see if we can go faster again tomorrow."
Team-mate
Michel Fabrizio was seventh fastest, 0.8secs from provisional pole, during his first day back on track after an operation to help reduce arm pump.
"I'm pretty content overall with the work we've done today. I of course know the track very well but riding the Ducati here is new for me and it seems like certain points of the circuit require a bit of a different approach," revealed the Italian. "Today I had some problems for example at the Parabolica where I lost a few tenths. I'm feeling quite confident about the performance of the tyres and the bike set-up so it's really just a matter of learning how to ride the F08 at this particular track. Physically I feel ok - my arm hurt a bit by the end of the afternoon session but that was to be expected - I'd say it's all going ok for the moment."
