Ducati Xerox ace Troy Bayliss is delighted the World Superbikes series is returning to the United States for the first time in four years this weekend.

The Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City is the stage for the sixth round of the season, and promises to be a great leveller with none of this weekend's competitors having experienced the 3.048-mile track, which opened in 2006.

It will be the third US venue that the World Superbikes series has visited following races at Brainerd (1989-1991) and Laguna Seca (1995-2004).

Bayliss, who leads the riders' standings on 194 points, is looking forward to racing in America for the first time since 2005, when he came sixth at Laguna Seca in MotoGP.

"I miss America and so am happy to be going back there," said the two-time world champion.

"In one way I'm sorry we're not going back to Laguna, a track I enjoyed and know well but, having said that, I met the owner and designer of the Miller track... and saw the layout and it looks like a great track too.

"It looks pretty safe but might also get very dusty so we'll have to see when we get there.

"I have good memories of racing in America. My last visit was when I was in MotoGP and I did okay, so I'm looking forward to going back there again."

The Australian enjoys a 78-point lead over Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) at the head of the standings, but after suffering his first retirement of the season at the last round in Italy, he will be desperate to score well in Utah this weekend.

The emerging forces in the title race are Noriyuki Haga and Max Neukirchner, who shared the wins and the second places at the last round to close to within a handful of points of MotoGP convert Checa.

Yamaha Motor Italia star Haga is very much the man in form, with two wins and two second places at the last three rounds.

The amiable Japanese has recovered from a slow start to the campaign and, with 25 points on offer for a race win, is still a title contender despite an 82-point gap to Bayliss.

"I am very focused now, and I am determined to close the gap on Troy," said Haga.

"[Salt Lake] will be a real learning weekend for all the teams and riders, as it is a new track for us all.

"I don't know that much about it but that's the same for everyone. But after Monza my confidence is high, because we were competitive in each race."

German Neukirchner is fourth in the standings on 111 points, and mounted the top step of the podium for the first time at Monza when he edged out Haga by just 0.058 seconds in race one.

The 25-year-old was only denied a perfect weekend when Haga returned the favour in race two, pipping him to the flag by an even more remarkable 0.009secs.

Unsurprisingly, Neukirchner was awarded a two-year contract extension by Team Alstare Suzuki in the wake of his heroics in Italy.

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