Image: Jeff Crow.

Triple world champion Troy Bayliss is bringing his own special brand of dirt track racing to the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, with the ‘Baylisstic Scramble’ to be held during the opening round of the 2015 Superbike World Championship from 20-22 February.

The exciting new event, at the Phillip Island Swann round, boasts some of the biggest names in Australian motorcycle racing, including Bayliss, World Supersport Champion and MotoGP winner Chris Vermeulen, three-time World Speedway Champion Jason Crump, Mr Motocross icon Stephen Gall and multi-time Australian dirt track champion Paul Caslick.

The riders will captain five separate teams in the ‘Baylisstic Scramble’, which will be held on a flat track circuit that is being built at Lukey Heights, replacing the previous motocross layout.

Each team will have four riders and will battle it out in a round robin format. Practice will begin on Friday, followed by qualifying and racing on Saturday and Sunday, scheduled for windows outside the international categories.

All Phillip Island World Superbike ticket holders get free entry to the Baylisstic Scramble.

Gold Coast-based Bayliss, a six-time WSBK winner at Phillip Island, has lifted the profile of dirt track racing enormously over the last two years, which began with the inauguration of the Troy Bayliss Classic in his former home town of Taree in early 2013.

“Like many Australian riders, I grew up racing dirt track,” Bayliss said. “It’s where we all honed our skills and had a lot of fun when we were young, so it’s good to go back to where we all began and just race for the hell of it.

“The Baylisstic Scramble is not so hard on the body, so perfect for us more experienced campaigners and it will be a great spectacle for the fans seeing us all having a major go. No-one wants to lose!

“I’ve just come back from a great dirt track event in Barcelona where the Euros got right into the dirt, so I think it’s the beginning of a resurgence in Europe. I think our events are getting all the Aussies back to the dirt and that is a great thing for motorcycle racing.”

The Baylisstic Scramble has since joined the scene, and the fast-paced bar-banging action has proved to be a popular addition to the entertainment bill at the last two Moto Expo events in Brisbane and Melbourne and is now set to take Phillip Island by storm.

Dirt track racing has arguably been the premier breeding ground for some of Australia’s road racing elite, including Casey Stoner, Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner, Daryl Beattie and Anthony West.

If you purchase Phillip Island WSBK tickets in advance, a three-day ticket is just $110, saving $40 on the gate price. On-track camping is a bargain, at just $90 for up to four nights under the stars, just metres from the beautiful, black strip of Phillip Island bitumen. And for the final sweetener, kids 15 and under are totally and utterly free.

Advance ticket buyers get access to Free Paddock Friday, allowing them into the paddock on Friday morning to see the bikes and hear the WSBK stars for the first time in 2015 as they are interviewed in the Paddock Show.

To purchase Phillip Island World Superbike tickets, visit www.worldsbk.com.au or call the SBK toll free hotline on 1300 728 007.