2005 MotoGP: TURKEY

2005 MotoGP : MotoGP MotoGP R15 of 17, Oct 16, 2005, AUSTRALIA

• Istanbul Otodrom, Turkey
• Located 80 km east from the capital - Istanbul
• Designed by Herman Tilke (who also designed new GP tracks in Malaysia, Bahrain and China)
• Length: 5378 m
• Average width 15 m
• Anti clockwise
• 14 corners (6 right turns, 8 left turns)
• Circuit opened: 2005

RACE RESULT:

• 1 M. Melandri Honda ITA
• 2 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA
• 3 N. Hayden Honda USA
• 4 S. Gibernau Honda SPA
• 5 Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati
• 6 Toni Elias (SPA) Yamaha
• 7 Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha
• 8 Makoto Tamada (JAP) Honda
• 9 Alex Barros (BRA) Honda
• 10 Shinya Nakano (JAP) Kawasaki

250cc RACE WINNER: Casey Stoner, Aprilia

125cc RACE WINNER: Mike di Meglio, Honda.

QUALIFYING:

• 1 S. Gibernau Honda ESP 1' 52.334
  2 M. Melandri Honda ITA 1' 52.463
  3 N. Hayden Honda USA 1' 52.976
  4 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 1' 53.177
  "This morning was not good at all, I had some big problems and we were quite worried. Then this afternoon we made some major modifications and the bike began to work much better. In the end the lap time was not so bad and we were able to finish the session on the second row. After this morning's troubles I am quite happy with this fourth place and maybe we can fight at the front tomorrow. We need to use the warm-up well and make a few more small changes to the set-up. I think it's going to be a very hard race tomorrow; Melandri and Gibernau were very fast today and I think tomorrow will be a big, big battle."
  5 C. Edwards Yamaha USA
  6 T. Elias Yamaha ESP
  7 M. Tamada Honda JPN
  8 A. Barros Honda BRA
  9 C. Checa Ducati ESP
  10 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN
  11 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS
  12 M. Biaggi Honda ITA
  13 O. Jacque Kawasaki FRA
  14 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA
  15 S. Ito Ducati JPN
  16 R. Xaus Yamaha ESP

YAMAHA QUALIFYING REPORT

• Gauloises Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards will start the inaugural Grand Prix of Turkey from the second row of the MotoGP grid tomorrow, after lapping fourth and fifth fastest in this afternoon's single qualifying session. After making the most of another extended 90-minute free practice in the morning, the difference between the leading riders was much closer today, with the top six all pulling to within a second of the pole position time of 1'52.334 set by Sete Gibernau (Honda).
• After a difficult morning, Rossi clocked the fourth fastest lap of the day after making a series of improvements to his YZR-M1 machine designed to meet the demands of this new and challenging circuit. The Italian knocked almost two seconds off his best time from yesterday and is targeting even more set-up refinements in tomorrow's warm-up session before challenging for a record-equalling twelfth victory of the season in the race.
• After suffering a series of setbacks yesterday Edwards was able to work without interruption today and the American emerged as one of the strongest contenders for a pole challenge in the final stages of the session. Edwards, who revealed that he has made a change to his riding style here after struggling to compete for the podium in recent weeks, launched his final attack in the very last minute but was held up by a slower rider and ended up conceding 0.042 seconds to Rossi, eventually lining up just behind his team-mate in fifth place.
• VALENTINO ROSSI (4th - 1'53.177; 27 laps)
  "This morning was not good at all, I had some big problems and we were quite worried. Then this afternoon we made some major modifications and the bike began to work much better. In the end the lap time was not so bad and we were able to finish the session on the second row. After this morning's troubles I am quite happy with this fourth place and maybe we can fight at the front tomorrow. We need to use the warm-up well and make a few more small changes to the set-up. I think it's going to be a very hard race tomorrow; Melandri and Gibernau were very fast today and I think tomorrow will be a big, big battle."
• COLIN EDWARDS (5th - 1'53.219; 25 laps)
  "We've struggled to find a set-up in recent weeks so here in Istanbul we've basically gone to Valentino's base setting and made gradual changes to suit my style. I've had to adapt my riding more to a 250 style, carrying much more corner speed, and as the weekend's gone on I've learnt more and more tricks that are helping me to go faster. This afternoon I felt good, I had much more confidence in the set-up and it helped me set some consistent times. To be honest I'm a little disappointed not to be on the front row because I felt like I had a 1'52 in me, but it wasn't to be. The main thing is that we've made improvements and if we can keep doing that in the warm-up tomorrow then we should be okay for the race."
• DAVIDE BRIVIO - GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR
  "The team has worked very well to improve the situation; it is still not the best but it is certainly much better than yesterday. The steps forward with the bike have allowed the riders to think more about where they can improve and both Valentino and Colin have created a good base to work from in the race. We have some very fast rivals and it will be a hard battle in the race but I can definitely say that we will be trying our best to be a part of it."
• Toni Elias (6th, 1.53,230)
  "I am very happy. We have worked very well, always with a full tank of fuel to simulate race conditions. I think we have a good rhythm, but I hope we don't have any unforeseen problems as we did at Phillip Island. I have learnt a lot this year from riding the M1, and I am very happy with how things have gone. This morning I fell when trying to keep pace with Melandri, but his tyres were fresh and mine were not."

FRI PRACTICE, OCT 21, 2005

• 1 M. Melandri Honda ITA 1' 53.506
  (comparison: F1 pole by Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes 1m 26.797s)
  2 S. Gibernau Honda ESP 1' 53.945
  3 N. Hayden Honda USA 1' 54.774
  4 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1' 55.015
  5 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 1' 55.078
  6 C. Checa Ducati ESP 1' 55.171
  7 C. Edwards Yamaha USA 1' 55.172
  8 T. Elias Yamaha ESP 1' 55.208
  9 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA 1' 55.292
  10 M. Biaggi Honda ITA 1' 55.478
  11 M. Tamada Honda JPN 1' 55.657
  12 A. Barros Honda BRA 1' 55.670
  13 O. Jacque Kawasaki FRA 1' 55.925
  14 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS 1' 56,665.000
  15 R. Rolfo Ducati ITA 1' 56.865
  16 S. Ito Ducati JPN 1' 5,691.000

YAMAHA REPORT - FRIDAY

• Gauloises Yamaha pair get to grips with Istanbul Park
  Gauloises Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards got their first taste of the Istanbul Park circuit today as bright sunshine and moderate temperatures welcomed the MotoGP World Championship to Turkey for the first time. The riders had an extra half hour of free practice this morning as they aimed to get to grips with the new track, which proved to be somewhat trickier than expected, with several riders running off the circuit throughout the day.
• Rossi and Edwards were amongst those to make minor miscalculations this morning, the Italian missing his braking marker and running into the gravel traps on two occasions and the American losing the front end of his YZR-M1 and sliding off completely. Edwards' eventful day continued in the afternoon when an engine problem resulted in a small fire that warmed his ankles but brought no serious damage to either the rider or machine.
  Despite the setback Edwards set the seventh fastest lap of the day over the two sessions, two places behind Rossi on the combined time sheets, which were headed by Marco Melandri (Honda).
• Valentino Rossi (5th - 1'55.078)
  "The track is not so bad - very similar to China but with more up and down and our problems today are similar to the ones we had there. There are some long, fast corners and also some slow hairpins; it is difficult to find the right setting. The bike is not working as well as we would like and we couldn't be at the top. There is quite a lot of damage to the surface in the hard-braking areas from the Formula 1 and there are a lot of bumps.
  Our problem is mainly with the front end; we need to understand this to be able to ride the bike at the maximum. Anyway, it is only the first day at a new track so it is not so bad - tomorrow we will try and understand things a bit better."
• Colin Edwards (7th - 1'55.171)
  "The crash this morning was a strange one; I felt like I was actually going slower than I had done on the previous lap but then the front end just went away. I guess you have to put it down to this being a new track. The bike was still running on its side for quite a while before I could get over and shut it off, which seems to have been what caused the problem with the engine in the afternoon - these things are designed to run standing up!
  As far as the track is concerned, it's pretty cool; I like it. The first seven turns are awesome, although I'm not too sure about that last section, it's a bit too slow for my liking and I reckon it would be better if they took the right hand kink out of it. I would like to be a second quicker but we lost a little bit of time compared to the other guys with the problems we had today so hopefully we can have an incident-free day tomorrow and make the most of both sessions."
• Davide Brivio - Gauloises Yamaha Team Director
  "Today we made an uphill start! Colin had a small crash in the morning and in general both riders were struggling for the lap times, but they will come. This is a new track and Friday is basically the opportunity to check things and see which is the best way to work. We have collected a lot of information from both riders and the job for the team now is to look everything over tonight and see how we can improve the bikes for tomorrow. It is a pleasure for the team to be competing in a new country like Turkey so hopefully we can enjoy the success here that we have had at other circuits this season."
• Tony Elias (8th - 1'55.208)
  "The important thing is that we are in the top ten again. Being at a new circuit we are all starting from an equal footing, but it is a difficult circuit with a lot of ups and downs and my Yamaha is maybe more sensitive than some of the other bikes. I like the circuit a lot, but with the rear-end being a bit unpredictable, enjoying yourself can be dangerous! We are working hard to resolve the problem though."

RACE PREVIEW

YAMAHA

• The Istanbul Otodrom track was finished earlier this year and succesfully inaugurated by the F1 circus, coming weekend it is up to the MotoGP boys to attack this new venue. The circuit is one of Herman Tilke's creations, the famous designer who also created the Sepang, Bahrain and Shanghai tracks. It can seat 130.000 spectators and is situated in the Asian part of Turkey, about 80 km's east from Istanbul.
• The track runs anti clockwise and is 5378 metres long with an average width of 15 m. It consists of 14 corners of which six are right turns and eight are to the left. The first part of the circuit is tight and technical, while the second part is open and fast featuring a backside straight with what looks to be a very exciting high speed kink in it. The riders are then slowed down by a chicane before they hit the relatively short 655.5 m start and finish straight. Interesting is that the track runs over four level sections with rising and descending grades.
• With a new tack and not knowing what to expect both Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards will attack the race with a different base set-up on each bike. The bikes will start with a neutral setting enabling to experiement with various set-up direction. During Friday the crew and rider will then decide which machine feels most comfortable and will then start to make changes to come up with the ideal setting for the race.

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