2006 MotoGP - TURKISH GP

R3, TURKEY, APRIL 30, 2006

		RACE	APRIL 30, 2006
	POS	RIDER	BIKE	TIME	GAP
	1	Marco Melandri	Fortuna Honda		0
	2	Casey Stoner	Honda LCR
	3	Nicky Hayden	Repsol Honda Team
	4	Valentino Rossi	Camel Yamaha Team
	5	Toni Elias	Fortuna Honda
	6	Loris Capirossi	Ducati Marlboro Team
	7	Chris Vermulen	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
	8	Shinya Nakano	Kawasaki Racing Team
	9	Colin Edwards	Camel Yamaha Team
	10	Makoto Tamada	Konica Minolta Honda
	11	Sete Gibernau	Ducati Marlboro Team
	12	Randy de Puniet	Kawasaki Racing Team
	13	Kenny Roberts	Team Roberts Honda
	14	Dani Pedrosa	Repsol Honda Team	crash
	15	Carlos Checa	Tech 3 Yamaha
	16	Alex Hofmann	Pramac d'Antin MotoGP
	17	John Hopkins	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
	18	James Ellison	Tech 3 Yamaha

• Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda: 1st : ”That was a fun race! I really enjoyed myself but it wasn’t easy – it was never going to be starting from fourteenth place at a circuit like this. I got a good start and that allowed me to manage the race better. The first few laps were tough but I tried to go with the front group and then had two really nice battles with Pedrosa and Stoner, two really young but strong riders. They added a really spectacular aspect to the race. At the end I decided it was time to attack Stoner and I think I made my experience count, which along with the performance of the Michelin tyres was enough for the victory. I’m so happy – to win for the second time at a circuit like Istanbul is incredible. I want to say thanks to Fortuna, Michelin and Honda and I dedicate this win to them. I’m happy but we have to keep working really hard to celebrate more success together!”
• Casey Stoner, LCR Honda: 2nd: “That was more like a 125 race and this result is a great feeling because I have proved to myself and everyone else that I can race up front in MotoGP. I feel have answered some of my critics today. I was expecting Marco to try and pass at the end of the straight because wasn’t that confident at that point, I had crashed there a couple times over the weekend. I knew I could be on the podium and I didn’t want to risk the 20 points. My crew chief Ramon and the team did a great job, we work very well together and I have been getting amazing support from Honda and Michelin.”
• Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 3rd: “It was a wild race. Everyone was riding super-aggressive and fighting for position but nobody was doing any bone-head stuff. So I enjoyed the race. I had a bit of a problem on the starting line when one of the tyre warmers melted to the front disc and I thought about coming into the pits on the warm up lap. The brakes actually came in pretty good, but all through the race I felt a bit sloppy on the brakes – it didn’t feel perfect. Although the other guys were riding real fast and breaking really deep, so perhaps that’s what it was it! At the end I just didn’t get it done, I make no excuses. The Repsol Honda team really did a good job – and the Michelins worked very well today. I’m really happy to keep the podium streak alive and leading the world championship is something to be proud of - it’s a good accomplishment for me - but it’s only three races in so I’m not going to jump up and down just yet. I’ve gotta keep working hard and stay focused and really I’ve gotta win races if I’m going threaten for the title.”

HONDA MOTOGP RACE REPORT

• This will be remembered as the race when the 2006 rookies showed the grid precisely why they’re riding in MotoGP. Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V) won the race from Casey Stoner (LCR Honda RC211V) with Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) third. But Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC211V), who fell on the last lap, was another sensation in a compelling race.
• After yesterday’s rain, the clouds threatened but failed to deliver another deluge and the 22-lap MotoGP contest got underway in dry conditions.
• Poleman Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) got the holeshot into turn one followed by Sete Gibernau (Ducati) and early front man John Hopkins (Suzuki).
• But behind this early lead trio lay the eventual bosses of this race: Hayden in fourth, then Stoner and Melandri. Dani, who started from row six after a fruitless qualifying effort had already fought his way his way to 13th by the end of lap one. Melandri, who endured a fifth row start after an equally troubled qualifying performance had shot up to sixth via a lightning-quick launch.
• Gibernau had assumed the lead by the end of lap one with Hopkins and Vermeulen in second and third followed by Stoner, Melandri and Hayden. Dani was still scything though the field and by lap three he lay ninth. He then set an early fastest lap of 1m 53.884s on the next circuit of the 5.430km track.
• As Vermeulen dropped off the pace Stoner, Hayden and Melandri matched it, then bettered it to put the chase on the lead duo of Gibernau and Hopkins. As the early pressure began to tell, the group of nine riders who had been covered by just three seconds in the early laps began to drift further apart.
• Gibernau still held the initiative at the front, but Stoner’s pressure on Hopkins began to tell and by lap eight, the order was Gibernau, Stoner, Melandri, then Pedrosa, who had now slotted in another fastest lap of 1m 53.305s. By lap ten Dani was third.
• Exactly on mid-race distance the pattern was set as Gibernau faded and Melandri led the pack into turn one on lap 11. Pedrosa lay second, Hayden third and Stoner fourth. Then Dani turned the screw and stole the lead from Melandri at the final turn complex at the end of lap 11.
• Four Honda riders now controlled the race from the front and with eventual fourth-place finisher Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) sitting in fifth, more than six seconds adrift of the leaders, it was clear that, barring a mass crash, the podium places would be disputed among the fast foursome.
• With three laps to go Stoner held a 0.6 second advantage over Melandri, with Pedrosa in close attendance and Hayden losing touch by a second and a half as the finale loomed. Melandri had tasted his first ever MotoGP win here last year and there was a feeling his experience might count on the last lap.
• Sure enough mistakes were made. Dani lost the front on the entry to turn one and crashed out to remount and finish 14th. It was a sad end to a glorious ride. Stoner now had only Melandri to deal with, but ‘Macio’ is a tough customer with two years’ experience in the class. He made it tell with a rugged out-braking manoeuvre into the final complex and Stoner could do nothing to resist.
• Melandri: I thought that would be a good race and I was right. But from row five I had no idea I’d be involved at the front. I got a really good start and the bike was great in these conditions on the day. But Casey is hard to beat and now it’s going to get harder and harder, he rode amazingly well today.”
• Stoner seemed happy with second, even though he so narrowly missed out on matching the record of Freddie Spencer as the youngest ever winner of a premier class race at 20 years and 196 days old.
• Stoner: “I didn’t know how big the group was, and when I realized there was only a few of us, I ran the race knowing I’d have to close on people at some stage. It was great riding with all those others and seeing how much they all move about. You’ve got to be a bit careful with these bikes because they don’t stop as fast as a 250 either.”
• Nicky was sanguine about his third place.
  Hayden: “I had a front brake problem on the startline when the tyre warmer melted onto one of the brake discs. The brakes were never right and I was missing apexes everywhere. I couldn’t get into a rhythm so I’m a bit disappointed overall. But I suppose leading the World Championship by a point is a consolation.”
• Pedrosa: “Until the last lap I think the race was good. I got a good start and recovered a lot of positions at the beginning. Then I got into a very good rhythm and I was able to overtake riders and catch the leaders, which was the main plan before the race. Near the end it was difficult because I lost some time and there was a little gap to the leaders so I was not completely with them. Then I crashed as I was entering the first turn. I’m sorry for my team because they were really good for the whole weekend.”
• Toni Elias 5th: “I didn't get a good start but bit-by-bit my rhythm improved and as the laps went by and the fuel tank got lighter I got more comfortable with the bike. Together with Valentino we cut through the pack and that helped me to finish fifth. On the final lap I tried to pass him but it was impossible. I’m satisfied with the way the race turned out but I’m still not quick enough over the first few laps so I have to work on this. I want to congratulate my team-mate Marco for his great performance today.”
• Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V), in tenth, said, “After a good start I risked crashing at the first corner and for this reason I lost some positions. I did not have very good grip with the rear tyre so I was never been able to run at a particularly quick pace. Although I did manage to overtake Gibernau quite near the end, in the last series of corners preceding the straight. In comparison to Qatar, the positive note is that the feeling with my RC211V seems to be about to return to a good level.”
• Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR211V), 13th, said, “I had to struggle out there today I just didn’t have the reserves. I was running low 1m 56s lap times and it was only at the end that I started running consistent laps in 1m 55s. In fact I set my fastest lap time with two laps to go. We just don’t have the corner entry speed we need. We don’t have grip, it’s as simple as that. We have the same engine and tyres that won the race so we have work to do.”

YAMAHA MOTOGP RACE REPORT

• MotoGP : Rossi recovery foiled in Turkish thriller
• Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi made up valuable points in the MotoGP World Championship title chase after charging from eleventh place on the grid to take fourth overall in today's Turkish Grand Prix. Despite making a quick start from his lowly grid position, the Italian made a mistake on lap two and dropped as far back as twelfth. However crucial changes made to the setup of his YZR-M1 before the race then allowed him to pass no fewer than seven riders, as he lapped at the same pace as the leading group over the course of the race. By the time he had made his way through the pack it was too late for the Italian to challenge for the podium but a crash for Dani Pedrosa (Honda) on the final lap boosted his final position to fourth. Today's result makes Rossi the highest point-scorer of all time in the Grand Prix World Championship, overtaking Max Biaggi.
• Rossi's Camel Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards made a decent start and remained in touch with the leaders for the opening laps but was unable to make any further progress and ended the race in ninth - the same position he had started from on the grid. At the front Marco Melandri (Honda) repeated his win from last season but was pushed all the way by Casey Stoner (Honda), who led the race until three corners from the end, when Melandri made his definitive pass. Nicky Hayden (Honda) was left to snap up the final podium position after Pedrosa's misfortune, the Spanish youngster tumbling out at turn one on the final lap when attacking Melandri and Stoner.
• Valentino Rossi (4th; + 6.209) "I got a good start off the line but I had been thinking about the first corner incident at Jerez and what had happened to Lorenzo in the 250 race, so I decided to go to the inside and it cost me four or five places. I made the positions back by the end of the first lap but I made a mistake under braking on lap two and lost three seconds and the chance for a podium today. We have had so many problems this weekend but we solved some of them in time for the race with some big modifications after the warm-up this morning and then the bike was okay, especially in the second half of the race when I really enjoyed riding it. It will be interesting to see how much more progress we can make in the test tomorrow because it is a long championship and the most important thing right now is not where we are in the standings or the points difference to the leader - the priority is to get the bike working as we know it can. This is a tough series and when you have problems you don't lose one or two places, you lose ten. It looks like there was a great battle at the front - it's a shame I wasn't involved! Looking at the championship right now I would say the top seven all have a chance to win the title but there is a long way to go yet."
• Colin Edwards (9th; + 22.847) "We didn't get it done at all this weekend and we need to sit down and work out why. It was always going to be a tough race today but I just didn't have the feeling or confidence with the bike to go out and battle with the guys we should be running with, which is the front group. We've got a test tomorrow and I'm keen to get out there and get as many laps in as possible. It's hard to overcome problems like the ones we're experiencing now because you don't get enough time during a Grand Prix weekend, so we'll get as much data together as we can before China. We simply have to come up with something for there because this situation can't go on for any longer."
• Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Looking at Valentino's race pace he could have easily been on the podium today, or even won the race, which is a big plus point for us considering the problems we have had. On lap three he was seven seconds down but he finished closer to the winner than that, despite having to fight past so many riders. Even so this has not been a satisfactory weekend for us and we know we still have a lot of work to do, starting in tomorrow's test. We have two very positive riders and this mood runs all the way through the team, so we will be working very hard tomorrow. The changes we made to Valentino's bike today are encouraging but now we have to further this development. It was a tough Grand Prix but we have come out of it with many positives."

QUALIFYING (TOP OF PAGE)

• VALENTINO ROSSI'S 100TH GP - VERMEULEN TAKES POLE
• After Casey Stoner took pole at last round, another Australian rookie is on pole. This time Chris Vermeulen on a Suzuki set the fastest time in wet qualifying session. Rossi will start 11th in his 100th GP race.
• VERMEULEN: "I tried to go out in the better conditions and it turned out that it was best at the end. I just stayed out and tried to be as fast as I could and in the end I was faster than everybody!"
• ROSSI: "We're having a lot of difficulty, not just at this track but during this period. Unfortunately the problem with the bike came late in the pre-season and we have not had time yet to fully understand it. It means we are off the pace here in the wet and the dry, but we don't completely understand why."

GRID - WET SESSION

		GRID	APRIL 29, 2006
	POS	RIDER	BIKE	TIME	GAP
	1	Chris Vermulen	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	2:4.617	0
	2	Nicky Hayden	Repsol Honda Team		+0.206
	3	Sete Gibernau	Ducati Marlboro Team		+0.386
	4	Loris Capirossi	Ducati Marlboro Team		+0.923
	5	John Hopkins	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
	6	Randy de Puniet	Kawasaki Racing Team
	7	Casey Stoner	Honda LCR
	8	Shinya Nakano	Kawasaki Racing Team
	9	Colin Edwards	Camel Yamaha Team
	10	Kenny Roberts	Team Roberts Honda
	11	Valentino Rossi	Camel Yamaha Team
	12	Toni Elias	Fortuna Honda
	13	Makoto Tamada	Konica Minolta Honda
	14	Marco Melandri	Fortuna Honda
	15	Carlos Checa	Tech 3 Yamaha
	16	Dani Pedrosa	Repsol Honda Team
	17	Alex Hofmann	Pramac d'Antin MotoGP
	18	Jose Luis Cardoso	Pramac d'Antin MotoGP
	19	James Ellison	Tech 3 Yamaha

SUZUKI QUALIFYNG REPORT    (TOP OF PAGE)

• Chris Vermeulen stormed to his and Rizla Suzuki MotoGP’s first ever MotoGP pole position at a rain soaked Istanbul in Turkey today.
• Vermeulen (2’04.617, 15 laps) made his intentions known early on in the qualifying session as he set fastest times to go top of the timesheets. The rookie Australian continued to improve his pace throughout the hour long session and saved the best till last, with a quickest time that was two tenths of a second ahead of his nearest rival, Honda’s Nicky Hayden.
• John Hopkins (2’05.700, 22laps) also rode a very strong qualifying session to put his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R on the middle of the second row in fifth place. He was only one second off his team-mate and will be sure to make an impact in tomorrow’s race whether it is wet or dry. The hard riding Anglo-American lost none of his fire because of the conditions as he made continuous improvements to power his bike up the field.
• The team’s Bridgestone wet weather tyres worked extremely well in today’s atrocious conditions, a fact that was emphasised by all six of the Bridgestone shod bikes qualifying in the top eight positions.
• Tomorrow’s 22-lap race is round three of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship and both Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers will be aiming for glory as the race gets going at 15.00hrs local time (14.00CET).
• Chris Vermeulen: “Obviously conditions were very different today. We had a quite a good morning practice and made a few changes to the set-up, the tyres and with the engine management system and it all seemed to work really well. From the start of the qualifying session the bike was working really well and it was comfortable to ride, even when the conditions got pretty bad and grip was hard to find. I did a few laps and then came back in and just watched the weather to see how much rain was about. I tried to go out in the better conditions and it turned out that it was best at the end. I just stayed out and tried to be as fast as I could and in the end I was faster than everybody! For my team, Bridgestone and all the team’s sponsors, this is the nicest way to say thanks!”
• John Hopkins: “First off I’ve got to say congratulations to Chris. That’s a job really well done to get the pole position, and it’s good for Rizla Suzuki and Bridgestone, awesome! As for ourselves we tried to get a good rhythm from the start and gradually get our pace up. We used the same tyres for the whole session even though I changed from one bike to another to try different settings. We found a set-up that will help us wet or dry, so we are really pleased about that. On the last lap I went a bit harder and managed to get a top five place, which was good because it was on a tyre that had been used to a full race distance. I’m happy with everything today as I don’t think I put a wheel out of place all day, so I am ready for the race now , wet or dry.”

HONDA QUALIFYNG REPORT    (TOP OF PAGE)

• In soaking conditions here at the imposing 5.340km Istanbul Park track, Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) put his machine on the front row of the grid for the first time this season behind poleman Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) and ahead of third fastest qualifier Sete Gibernau (Ducati). With constant rain sheeting from the skies, Hayden was set on giving himself every chance of victory in tomorrow's 22-lap showdown by riding every lap as if it were his last. The American displayed all his fighting qualities to put in a fastest lap just 0.206 seconds shy of the pole time.
• Hayden and Vermeulen were the only riders to break through the 2m 04 second barrier while the field grappled with the tricky conditions. Although Loris Capirossi (Ducati) had been fastest in the morning warm-up session, the Italian series points leader could not hang onto the quickest time as the hour-long session ticked away.
• He had to be happy with fourth fastest time at the head of the second row of starters in front of John Hopkins (Suzuki) and Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki). Casey Stoner (LCR Honda RC211V) is the next best Honda qualifier in seventh, followed by Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR211V) who was tenth quickest.
• The conditions seemed to be too much for Fortuna teamsters Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda RC211V) and Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V) who could only manage 12th and 14th. Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) split those two as 13th fastest man.
• But much focus remains on the plight of rookie Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda
  RC211V) who struggled to adapt to the wet track and crashed without injury in the morning session. Pedrosa will start from the sixth row after achieving a best lap of 2m 10.956 seconds - 6.624 seconds down on the pole time.
• In a chilly 12 degrees, with the saturated track surface at just 15 degrees, this was a tough session for all. Even current World Champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) is outside the top ten qualifiers in 11th on row four. His teammate Colin Edwards is the fastest Yamaha rider in ninth.
• Hayden and Vermeulen looked the most comfortable on track but with the weather set to improve for tomorrow's race the morning warm- up session may yet prove critical in terms of riders finding a workable race set-up.
• "I'm not really happy," said Hayden, who ran wide going into the final combination on his last hot lap. "I screwed up that last quick lap. My goal was the front row and I've achieved that but the mistake was disappointing. I tried to brake a little deeper and maybe I could still have just put the bike in there, but I didn't. Rain or shine, tomorrow's going to be a tough one."
• Stoner continued his steady progress in MotoGP in his rookie year with seventh fastest time and said, "The track conditions were terrible this afternoon and we were struggling for rear-end grip. We need to improve the wet weather set-up because we couldn't get the rear to hook up and we need more feedback from the tyres too."
• Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda Team 2nd “I felt really good out there today. I’m happy with the front row start and I’m happy with my confidence. It felt like I could make a mistake and my laptime would still be faster so I’m pleased about that. My goal for the session was to be on the front row but I’m not happy with myself for making that mistake in the last split - it was a club-racing move. I knew I had a good lap going and I went through the fast 5th gear corner quicker than I had before in the wet, and then I tried to brake a little deeper into the next corner but it was never going to work! I was actually looking forward to a wet qualifying session at some point because we’ve done a lot of testing in the wet over the winter. But I was hoping for a wet one on a weekend where I was stuggling, and having been fastest in the dry yesterday I was hoping it wouldn’t rain today. We’re going to bring all we’ve got for tomorrow.”
• Casey Stoner, Honda LCR 7th “The track conditions were terrible this afternoon and I struggled for rear-end grip so we still need to improve the set-up for race, especially if it is raining. I couldn’t get the rear tyre to hook-up and drive forward and hopefully we can find a set-up that will give me more feedback from the tyres. At one stage I followed Chris Vermeulen and looked good, riding like he was on a 250cc bike.”
• Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR Honda 10th "I saw a lot of people making mistakes out there in the wet and I made big mistake on my fast lap when I ran over the curb. Regardless of he wet we have been trying to get a better balance for the dry but the rain put a stop to that. When we ran that set up in the wet we were running 2m 19s laps. So we went back to the set up we had at the wet test at the Barcelona and ran 2m 07s. But we still have to improve the bike running into the corners. We are now going to analyse the wet set up we had for today and see where we can improve. We are testing at the races and that's hard, unless you are in perfect shape. We came here with a few things to dry but the wet stopped us, that's the second time its happened this season."
• Toni Elias, Fortuna Honda 12th "They were two very difficult sessions. In the morning I did not feel comfortable on the bike, although things did get better in the afternoon, but not enough to get me up into the top five. Despite my position, I think we improved a lot in the afternoon which means I will go into the race in confident mood."
• Makoto Tamada, Konika Minolta Honda Rider, 13th: “My feeling with the bike on wet track conditions has improved during the official qualifying session. We could try different solutions for the rear tyre but, with a completely wet track, the best solution has remained the one we closed this morning session with. Tomorrow, during the warm up, we would have to try to ameliorate the feeling with the rear tyre which is not sufficiently good in the long left corner at the beginning of the third sector.”
• Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda 14th "I am a little disappointed after my performance yesterday as I expected more. The bike was working quite well but I could not find the rhythm I wanted and tomorrow I will start from the fifth row. In preparation of the race I spent a lot of the session trying different rear tyre compounds and tomorrow we will decide according to the weather conditions. The start tomorrow will be very important, but the truth is the straight here is very short which makes overtaking difficult. It will be an interesting race."
• Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team 16th: “Today hasn’t gone too well for me. I don’t feel like saying so much about today because this morning I crashed - it was a human mistake - but still I crashed. And then in the afternoon I qualified 16th on the 6th row of the grid and this is too far from the leaders, so I’m not so happy about it, but I tried maxiumum. When crashed I just tried to brake and I was completely upright so it’s very strange - the front wheel just locked. All the time I am struggling with grip and I am trying to find more, that is why I’m so far back on the grid. Tomorrow it’s almost certain to be raining too, so we’ll just have to try to finish the race and get more experience in the wet.”

DUCATI QUALIFYING REPORT     (TOP OF PAGE)

• Ducati Team riders Sete Gibernau and Loris Capirossi put in dazzling performances in dismal conditions at Istanbul Park this afternoon. Despite a soaking wet and treacherously slippery track, the pair qualified third and fourth quickest for tomorrow's Turkish Grand Prix, round three of the 2006 MotoGP series.
• Gibernau will thus start from the first row for the second time this season while World Championship leader Capirossi will lead row two, his first time off the front row this year. Both riders were particularly impressive today because this was only Gibernau's second serious wet- weather outing on his Desmosedici GP6 while Capirossi is making his first visit to Istanbul Park after missing last year's race through injury. And both riders suffered from meeting traffic on their best laps.
• The pair also exploited the massive grip of their Bridgestone rain tyres to brilliant effect in this morning's practice session, Capirossi first and Gibernau second, a whole second ahead of their nearest challengers. But weather forecasts suggest that although tomorrow will start wet, the race could be run in the dry. If that prediction proves correct, it's not great news for Capirossi, who only had two hours of dry track time yesterday to learn the circuit.
• SETE GIBERNAU, 3rd fastest, 2m 05.003: "We're happy. I've not ridden the bike so much in the wet, so for now we're doing better than we thought we would in these conditions. Ducati and Bridgestone are doing an outstanding job and I'm very happy with that. I was pushing hard today because it's important to know you can be fast whether it's dry or wet. If you want to race for the championship you have to be competitive no matter what. I think we proved today that we can be up there in the rain as well as the dry."
• LORIS CAPIROSSI, 4th fastest, 2m 05.540s: "Fourth isn't bad at all. I found some traffic, so I wasn't as fast as I'm sure I could have been, but the fact that I know I could've been faster makes me feel good. The conditions were strange, this track isn't too grippy in the dry but it's got good grip in the wet, though you have to be careful not to touch the white lines. I hope it will rain for the race because I've not had much time on a dry track and we still need to work on our dry settings. A dry race would be more difficult for me. Yesterday I was only four tenths from 'pole' but I feel comfortable in the wet. We are competitive in all conditions which is good for the championship. Today's qualifying session was nice and if it's the same for the race I think there will be a few of us up front."

YAMAHA QUALIFYNG REPORT    (TOP OF PAGE)

• Local weather forecasts predicting heavy rain for today's qualifying session at the Grand Prix of Turkey were borne out today as an early downfall and intermittent afternoon showers thwarted the Camel Yamaha Team's hopes of improving their YZR-M1 machines ahead of tomorrow's 22-lap race. After struggling to find an ideal setting for the demanding Istanbul Park circuit in yesterday's free practices, both Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi had hoped to complete some dry laps before this afternoon's crucial grid decider but they were forced to splash their way through the puddles and battle hard for ninth and eleventh place respectively.
• Edwards' cause wasn't helped by a heavy fall in the morning session, which left him nursing several bruised joints, whilst Rossi has yet to get comfortable with his bike in either wet or dry conditions. For the second successive race, pole position went to an Australian rookie as Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) showed impressive wet pace with a fastest lap of 2'04.617, holding off the challenge of yesterday's pacesetter Nicky Hayden (Honda) and Sete Gibernau (Ducati), who complete the front row.
• Colin Edwards (9th - 2'07.334, 21 laps): "I had a big highside this morning and came down heavily on my head, shoulders and knee. It was pretty painful but after two laps back on the bike you soon forget about that. To be honest I felt quite comfortable in the wet but if we want to be competitive in this race we have to find another two seconds from somewhere and I'm not quite sure where at the moment. Our tyre rivals seem to have an advantage but I also have to say 'hats off' to Nicky Hayden - I'm not sure how close he was to ending one of those laps on the floor but he showed that Michelin have a good wet tyre so we clearly need to find the performance from our own bike. Wet or dry we have to pull a result out from somewhere tomorrow, but after this afternoon's session I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed for sunshine in the morning."
• Valentino Rossi (11th - 2'07.552, 20 laps) "We're having a lot of difficulty, not just at this track but during this period. Unfortunately the problem with the bike came late in the pre-season and we have not had time yet to fully understand it. It means we are off the pace here in the wet and the dry, but we don't completely understand why. It seems that our tyre competitor is strong here but we can't blame this. Nicky Hayden was very fast all day and after him the next Michelin rider is Casey Stoner; with the amount of MotoGP experience he has in these conditions we should be in front of him. I'm surprised, because last year our bike was really good in the wet and after the new bike worked so well at Catalunya during the rainy pre-season tests I was confident it would be good today as well, but it has been the opposite. I don't have enough confidence in the front to lean the bike over as much as I would like on the entry to the corners and not enough grip on the rear to make it up on the exit. If it's dry tomorrow then we have some things to try in the morning, but if the conditions are the same as today then it's going to be very hard for us."
• Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "We are clearly in a very difficult situation at the moment and we need to first understand our problems before we can work to improve them. The engineers are looking at the data as we speak and seeing if we can come up with something for tomorrow. Our team have shown in the past that they are capable of producing quick solutions and I have full confidence in them; somehow we have to find a better performance in the wet and in the dry conditions."

		FRI PRAC OVERALL	APRIL 28, 2006
	POS	RIDER	BIKE	TIME	GAP
	1	Nicky Hayden	Repsol Honda Team	1: 53.623	0
	2	Casey Stoner	Honda LCR		0.238
	3	Marco Melandri	Fortuna Honda		0.348
	4	Dani Pedrosa	Repsol Honda Team		0.378
	5	Toni Elias	Fortuna Honda		0.399
	6	Colin Edwards	Camel Yamaha Team
	7	Loris Capirossi	Ducati Marlboro Team
	8	John Hopkins	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
	9	Sete Gibernau	Ducati Marlboro Team
	10	Makoto Tamada	Konica Minolta Honda
	11	Valentino Rossi	Camel Yamaha Team
	12	Chris Vermulen	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
	13	Shinya Nakano	Kawasaki Racing Team
	14	Kenny Roberts	Team Roberts Honda
	15	Randy de Puniet	Kawasaki Racing Team
	16	Carlos Checa	Tech 3 Yamaha
	17	James Ellison	Tech 3 Yamaha
	18	Alex Hofmann	Pramac d'Antin MotoGP
	19	Jose Luis Cardoso	Pramac d'Antin MotoGP

		FRI PRAC #1	APRIL 28, 2006
	POS	RIDER	BIKE	TIME	GAP
	1	Casey Stoner	Honda LCR	1:54.27	0
	2	Marco Melandri	Fortuna Honda
	3	Valentino Rossi	Camel Yamaha Team
	4	Nicky Hayden	Repsol Honda Team
	5	Loris Capirossi	Ducati Marlboro Team
	6	Colin Edwards	Camel Yamaha Team
	7	Toni Elias	Fortuna Honda
	8	Dani Pedrosa	Repsol Honda Team
	9	Sete Gibernau	Ducati Marlboro Team
	10	John Hopkins	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

HONDA FRI PRACTICE REPORT    (TOP OF PAGE)

• Nicky Hayden 1st Overall – Session 1: 1m 55.126s Session 2: 1m 53.623s
  “The feeling on the first day is pretty positive. Overall we made some nice progress from the morning to the afternoon which I’m happy about because that’s something we weren’t able to do at Qatar – improve as we went on. It’s still early and we had a few little problems through the session with my number one bike and I had to kinda jump from one to the other at the end. We still need to find some improvements because we’re still hurting a little bit on edge grip and the track seems pretty slippery to me. We’re trying to find some traction and to get a little bit more stability on the brakes. It’s a tough track with a lot of elevation changes and some of the paint’s slippery in places so you’ve got to be on your toes around here. And we’ll have to see what the weather’s going to do – it doesn’t look real pretty tomorrow. It’s nice to be at the top of the timesheets, but it’s still early - we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
• Dani Pedrosa 4th Overall – Session 1: 1m 55.512s Session 2: 1m 54.001s
  “Well at the beginning of the day we had a problem with the electronics and we lost some time, but really this was a normal first day, trying to get used to the track on a new bike for me, getting the right gearing, learning the braking points. I made many mistakes while I was doing this today! In the afternoon we started to test some tyres and get some information for qualifying and the race. When I was pushing hard towards the end of the session I had oil flags in the last two minutes and I had to slow down, so I couldn’t improve my lap time right at the end. The best thing though is that we are getting closer to the front from the beginning of the weekend, so I’m happy with how today went.”
• Makoto Tanaka - Repsol Honda Team Manager
  “It is a very good feeling when Honda machines take the first five places on day 1. Especially when it’s Nicky Hayden of the Repsol Honda team with the top time – so we’ve done well. It was a frustrating feeling for Dani because he lost the chance to improve his position when oil flag came out during his fastest laps and he had to slow down. His style is to be very methodical and make steady progress and he did this very well again today. I’m worried about tomorrow’s weather, however we want to keep today’s momentum through to the race on Sunday!”
• Australian rider Casey Stoner finished the opening day of free practice with the second fastest time at Istanbul Park following another impressive performance aboard the LCR Honda. Stoner set his fastest time of 1’53.861 on lap ten of the afternoon session, just 0.2s slower than American Nicky Hayden, also riding a Honda.
• Now recovered from the energy-sapping illness he suffered at the Qatar GP, Stoner was on the pace from the opening laps of the morning free practice session. Repeating the form which secured pole position in Doha, the 20 year-old Australian posted the fastest in the morning session ahead of Marco Melandri and Valentino Rossi.
• In the afternoon session Stoner was uninjured in a slow-speed fall at turn nine at the end of the back straight which forced him to switch to his spare bike.
• CASEY: “I didn’t know what to expect here after Qatar so I’m pretty happy even though I had a small crash this afternoon; I hit a bump and lost the front-end so it wasn’t a big problem. The track conditions today were not good, everyone was sliding a lot and in the afternoon the wind was quite strong, especially through the fast turn 11 right-hander.”
• LUCIO: “ This was another very strong performance by Casey following Qatar. He was fastest in the morning session and only dropped to second following a small crash this afternoon. Unfortunately the spare bike was not set-up correctly for Casey so he could not improve his time but everything is under control.”

YAMAHA FRI PRACTICE REPORT    (TOP OF PAGE)

• COLIN EDWARDS (6th, 1’54.042, 38 laps)
  “We started out with the base setting from Qatar but it didn’t work very well for us here. Basically we then decided to go with a newer front tyre than the one we’ve been using in testing and it went much better. Combined with a few tweaks to the suspension I built up my confidence in the front and I was able to lay down some good lap times. In the end we put a pretty consistent run together and I’m happy. We’re still getting some vibrations but it’s only in a couple of corners and we can work around them with more time on the bike tomorrow; hopefully it will stay dry. The track was really dirty this morning but it started to clean up in the afternoon. If it stays dry then the grip should improve as the weekend goes on, but they’re saying it might rain so I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
• VALENTINO ROSSI (11th, 1’54.662, 43 laps)
  “This morning we were fast straight away and this was quite encouraging. We were third and we thought that we would be able to continue in this way during the afternoon. However we made some modifications in order to improve the acceleration and unfortunately we lost a lot of grip in braking. In fact our lap times were more or less the same in the afternoon but the track was about half a second faster – this morning it was quite dirty – and now we are in 11th place. I am a bit worried but also quite positive because we made some changes at the end of the session, back towards this morning’s settings, and we improved a lot and set our fastest lap of the day. So far we don’t have any vibration and so we hope that it won’t appear tomorrow if the grip improves.”
• DAVIDE BRIVIO – CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR
  “In the morning things went well for Valentino and in the afternoon they went well for Colin so you could say we had a balanced day! The good news is that we have been able to work as we would on a normal weekend, without the distractions caused by the problems we experienced in the first race. We collected a lot of good information today that we can put to use tomorrow and find a way forward with the set-up of the bikes. The only question mark is the rain so the only thing we ask for is at least a few dry laps so that we can evaluate the solutions we come up with tonight. Valentino lost his feeling a little bit this afternoon but we will compare the data from the whole day and find the best way to work tomorrow.”

RACE PREVIEW (TOP OF PAGE)

YAMAHA PREVIEW

• Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi reaches another special milestone in his illustrious career this weekend as he contests his 100th consecutive premier-class race in the Grand Prix of Turkey. The Italian and his team-mate Colin Edwards travel to the Istanbul Park circuit, located 300 kilometres north west of the capital city of Ankara, looking to build on tentative first impressions of the track from last year, when they finished second and seventh respectively in a race won by Marco Melandri.
• The third round of the current season will also be Rossi's 160th appearance in all classes since making his 125cc debut in Malaysia in 1996. So far he has amassed an incredible tally of 80 victories, his latest coming just over two weeks ago in the Grand Prix of Qatar; a triumph that also moved the 27-year-old level with Mick Doohan on 54 premier-class wins, leaving him second only to the legendary Giacomo Agostini, on 68.
• The Istanbul Park circuit was designed by famed German architect Hermann Tilke, the man behind the Sepang, Bahrain and Shanghai circuits, and was used for the first time by the MotoGP World Championship last October. The spectacular 5.378 kilometre track features fourteen turns - eight lefts and six rights - and like Phillip Island it has the unusual characteristic of running anti-clockwise.
• Like the Losail circuit in Qatar, several of the Istanbul track's corners are based on famous bends at other circuits, such as the 'Senna Esses' at Sao Paolo, the 'Spoon Curve' at Suzuka and the 'Eau Rouge' at Spa. Spectators have ideal facilities to enjoy the action, with seating capacity for around 130,000 fans and an impressive main grandstand which can hold up to 25,000.
• Sunday's schedule will start one hour later than usual, with the red lights due to go out for the MotoGP race at 1500h local time (CET +1).
• Valentino Rossi: Record Breaker
  As well as taking him level with Mick Doohan in terms of career wins, Valentino Rossi's victory at Qatar also pulled him to within striking distance of the all-time record Grand Prix points total, currently held by Max Biaggi. Having now scored a total of 2886 points in all classes Rossi will move ahead of Biaggi simply by finishing in ninth place or above this Sunday. However, as always, his only target is victory at one of only two circuits on the current calendar where he has yet to climb onto the top step of the podium in at least one of the three classes.
• "Qatar was like the start of my championship but we're already behind in the points and we need to do our best to catch up," said Rossi. "My rivals are very strong and we need to be able to fight for the win again in Turkey. Istanbul isn't one of my favourite tracks and we had a really hard time there last year - we had already won the championship and it was difficult to stay 100% focused at that stage of the season, plus we had some set-up problems with the bike. This time we go there feeling fully motivated.
• "We don't know how the new bike will react at this circuit; I hope that it will go well and that we won't have any vibration problems. There are some fantastic fast corners so if the bike is working well it could be great fun to ride there. We tested again after Qatar and we made some improvements, and although we still haven't completely solved our problems hopefully even if they do reappear at some stage, we're going to be able to cope with them better now."
• Colin Edwards: Hard work will pay off
  Colin Edwards is keen to get to Turkey this weekend as he aims to convert the fast and consistent pace he has shown during pre-season testing and Grand Prix practice sessions into a solid race result. Eleventh and ninth place finishes from the first two rounds have not been a true reflection of the Texan's efforts this year and he is keen to turn things around at a circuit he admits he struggled to get to grips with last season.
• "I have to say I wasn't too enamoured with the track when we rode it last October but I was busy trying to adapt to a new riding style at the time and it didn't make life easier," says Edwards. "This time my riding style is sorted out but we still have a few problems with the bike so we'll have to see how it goes. I was very disappointed with the way things went in Qatar but it has been nice to have an extra weekend off over Easter to mull things over and I can't wait to get out and put it right on the track.
• "So far this season we've been strong in practice - if anything just struggling a little bit to make the step up on a qualifying tyre but in general the pace on race tyres has been good. We were unlucky at Jerez and I was really confident of a good result in Qatar but we came up against a few problems in the race that hadn't bothered us in practice. The day of tests after the race gave us some good data to work from and hopefully things run smoothly from day one in Turkey."
• Davide Brivio: An interesting challenge
  Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio sees this weekend's race as the ideal opportunity to measure early development of the 2006 version YZR-M1 machine at another challenging and demanding venue. After overcoming initial problems in Qatar to end the weekend with a victory for Valentino, the Italian is hoping for more of the same from his team in Turkey and expects the timing of this year's race to favour a more fruitful outcome than last October's event at the same circuit.
• "Last year Istanbul Park was one of the circuits where we had the most difficulties but that Grand Prix was the penultimate of the season, when everything was already won," explains Brivio. "It will be interesting to see how we go this time around, with the race at the beginning of the year and coming at a time when we really need to get some points for both riders.
• "It will be a challenging weekend because we still have to fix the problems that we have had with the 2006 version of the YZR-M1. We will test again on Monday in Istanbul after the race, in order to further try to improve the bike. Despite these issues, we showed in Qatar that we can already be competitive and now we have to take that to Turkey. Valentino's win has given the whole team and the engineers a real boost and the motivation is definitely there to try to win again in Turkey."
• Technically speaking: Anrea Zugna on Istanbul
  Like all Herman Tilke tracks, Istanbul Park possesses a wide variety of corners and the challenge is further enhanced by plenty of gradients, with the track built on four different ground levels. However, by far the most exciting feature of the layout is turn eleven - a fifth gear bend that is taken at speeds approaching 270km/h, making it easily the fastest corner in the MotoGP World Championship. Combined with some of the tightest chicanes on the calendar, the key to set-up at Istanbul Park is about making compromises.
• "Istanbul is a tricky circuit because it has some of the fastest corners in the world combined with some of the slowest," explains Andrea Zugna, Colin Edwards' Data Engineer. "In turn eleven you need good stability at high speed to give the rider the confidence he needs to attack the corner, but from turn twelve to the end of the lap you have three very slow chicanes which require good agility; so you have to find a balanced set-up between those two characteristics.
• "This track is also unique because of the changes of elevation. For example turn one dips downhill before going immediately up again, creating a lot of compression on the front forks. The rider's skill is also very important because there is only really one racing line and they must find it - especially through the three consecutive lefts in the middle of the lap, where it is also very bumpy. It is important that they have confidence in the front through here. Last year Colin struggled a little because it was the first time he used his new riding style but his pace in practice was good and his fastest lap came towards the end of the race so we know the data is good. Hopefully it will make life a little easier this weekend!"

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