Friday’s Combined MotoGP Practice Times: 1. Marco MELANDRI, Honda, 1:53.506 2. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, 1:53.945 3. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, 1:54.774 4. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, 1:55.015 5. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, 1:55.078 6. Carlos CHECA, Ducati, 1:55.171 7. Colin EDWARDS, Yamaha, 1:55.171 8. Toni ELIAS, Yamaha, 1:55.208 9. John HOPKINS, Suzuki, 1:55.292 10. Max BIAGGI, Honda, 1:55.478 11. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, 1:55.657 12. Alex BARROS, Honda, 1:55.670 13. Olivier JACQUE, Kawasaki, 1:56.208 14. Chris VERMEULEN, Honda, 1:56.665 15. Roberto ROLFO, Ducati, 1:56.865 16. Shinichi ITO, Ducati, 1:56.910 17. Ruben XAUS, Yamaha, 1:57.058 18. James ELLISON, Blata, 1:57.939 19. Franco BATTAINI, Blata, 1:58.678 More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: NAKANO SETS FAST OPENING PACE IN ISTANBUL Shinya Nakano opened the first day of MotoGP competition at Istanbul Park at a blistering pace, setting the fourth fastest time in today’s free practice sessions. Nakano and his Ninja ZX-RR were in high-speed form in preparation for Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix – the first ever world championship motorcycle road race to be held in Turkey. The pace of the smooth-riding Nakano was boosted by his 302.7 kph through the official speed trap – impressively the third fastest of the 19 bikes entered for this race. The fastest speed was 304 kph, just 1.3 kph quicker. As he learnt the demanding Istanbul circuit – the Otodrom – Nakano lowered his time by 1.2s between the morning and afternoon sessions. Nakano’s impressive run in the afternoon session backed-up the similar efforts of teammate Olivier Jacque in the morning free practice, when the Frenchman was also third fastest through the speed trap at 301 kph. However in the afternoon session a set-up change did not favour Jacque, and he lost confidence in the front-end, finishing with the 13th fastest time overall. The Frenchman posted his best lap in the morning session, in which he was eighth fastest. Both Kawasaki riders spoke highly of the all-new, 14 turn Istanbul Park with its challenging combination of fast and technical corners plus elevation changes. Despite the thrilling sequence of high-speed corners and full throttle acceleration, sixth gear is used just once on the 5.34 km lap – as riders crest the hill on the spectacular climb from turn 11. It is on this section that the official speed trap is located, with performance through the fast turn 11 critical to top speed outcome. Today Nakano and Jacque ran through a detailed evaluation of Bridgestone race tyres, which have so far performed impressively on a track that appears to have similar surface characteristics to the Shanghai circuit. Shinya Nakano: #56 – Fourth – 1’55.015 “The track is unbelievable, so fast, especially the flat-in-fifth gear turn 11, I’m really enjoying riding here. Even though it was designed on a computer this is a very human track – very good for riders. A big challenge are the blind corner entries over the crests, you have to judge your lines and braking points perfectly. The only downside is that the slow, first gear corners are really too slow and not very interesting for a MotoGP bike. In the afternoon session the bike was much better in the high-speed corners, I had a more stable rear-end set-up. Now the main point is to get a more precise feeling for the slow corners and work through the tyre options, we still have a lot of decisions to make for the race.” Olivier Jacque: #19 – Thirteenth – 1’55.925 “Discovering a new track is always fun and a challenge, but already I have a very good feeling here, especially in the fast right-hand turn 11 – it is flat in fifth gear, I just roll off the slightly on turn-in, and then full gas. And there are some very technical sections like the triple apex turn eight, it is the same corner repeated three times. I was disappointed not to go faster this afternoon, but we made some suspension changes and I lost confidence in the front-end in the fast corners. By the time we went back to the set-up from the morning session I could not regain the same feeling. The bike is fast and the tyres impressive, we just need to get back on the right set-up.” Naoya Kaneko: Technical Co-ordinator “Shinya’s time was very good and a positive start for the weekend. Our main focus during practice and qualifying is to maximise rear traction and power delivery, which is always a challenge at a new circuit as conditions are changing for each session, with more grip on a circuit that is not used on a regular basis. This also influences tyre choice, and final race selection is likely to change as we evaluate all of the Bridgestone options here.” More, from a press release issued by Gauloises Yamaha: 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; 57 laps) “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 lot better.” COLIN EDWARDS (7th 1’55.171; 48 laps) “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 eighths 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.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Melandri sets the benchmark on an eventful first day in Turkey Marco Melandri became the fastest man on a motorcycle around the Istanbul Park circuit when the first free practice sessions for the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix took place today. Melandri quickly got to grips with the circuit layout and set the benchmark in the afternoon session, his lap of 1’53.506 some 0.439 seconds too fast for his nearest rival and team-mate Sete Gibernau. Nicky Hayden, who is currently tied on points with Melandri in the chase for the runner-up spot in the championship, was third fastest but he will be concerned by the Italian’s early pace having only managed to get within 1.268 seconds today. “I liked the track straight away, we found the right way to work from the morning session and I immediately had a good feeling with the bike,” said Melandri. “It felt really natural to ride here because the bike was responding so well; the team have done a wonderful job. I am so happy the tyres Michelin have brought here are working really well and the lap times are coming without having to push too hard. I want to keep my feet on the ground because no doubt the other top riders will be closer tomorrow but I’m feeling calm. We’ve started on the right foot.” MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi, who sealed the title three races ago in Malaysia, lapped fifth fastest today after a problematic first encounter with the circuit. The Italian ran off track several times throughout the day and almost collided with Olivier Jacque in a frustrating end to the afternoon session. Rossi’s Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards had an even more eventful first day, the American suffering a front-end crash in the opening session before seeing his YZR-M1 machine catch fire in the afternoon due to problems caused by the morning incident. With Shinya Nakano lapping fourth fastest on the Kawasaki, Carlos Checa showed signs that this could be a good weekend for Bridgestone tyres by clocking the sixth quickest time of the day on the Ducati. The Spaniard’s team-mate Shinichi Ito, riding in place of the injured Loris Capirossi, ended his first day of MotoGP action this season in sixteenth place whilst Chris Vermeulen, who replaces Troy Bayliss at Honda for the second successive race, was two positions ahead of the Japanese veteran in fourteenth. Sebastián Porto was the quickest 250cc rider at the new circuit, the Argentinean clocking a time of 1’57.408 to overhaul Casey Stoner at the top of the time sheets after the Australian crashed with just minutes remaining of the session. Alex de Angelis also took advantage of Stoner’s misfortune by nudging him out to third place with the second fastest time of the session whilst Andrea Dovizioso completed the provisional front row in fourth place. Dani Pedrosa, who clinched his second successive title in the class at Phillip Island five days ago, qualified on the provisional second row with the seventh quickest time. Mika Kallio set provisional pole position for the 125cc race after clocking a best time of 2’04.740 with his final lap of the session. The Finnish rider, who trails series leader Thomas Lüthi by 12 points, is joined on the front row by Héctor Faubel, Tomoyoshi Koyama and Gabor Talmacsi, with Lüthi just off the pace in fifth place. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Promising start for Hopkins at Istanbul Team SUZUKI MotoGP racer John Hopkins set the third fastest time this morning during the first ever practice session for a MotoGP race held at the Istanbul Park Circuit. Hopkins (P9 overall, 1’55.292) quickly got to terms with the spectacular and technically demanding Turkish track and was on top of the leader-board for a large part of the extended session. He lapped consistently fast throughout the hour and a half that was allocated to the MotoGP riders to enable them to get more accustomed the 5.3km track. The quick-learning Anglo-American finished only 0.6 seconds behind the fastest time of the morning set by Marco Melandri. Hopkins was suffering with cold-like symptoms throughout the day and these physical problems were the cause of his inability to improve on his time during the afternoon session. He immediately left after the session to visit Dr Costa for treatment to his illness and is hoping improved fitness for tomorrow. Team SUZUKI MotoGP has only one rider in Turkey due to Kenny Roberts Jr being sidelined through injury. The 2000 World Champion had hoped to be fit for the next round at Valencia but further tests on his injury have also revealed a broken finger to add to the fracture on his wrist. His place at the final round of the season will now be taken by Team SUZUKI MotoGP test rider Nobuatsu Aoki. Tomorrow will see another extended practice session in the morning and then the cut-and-thrust of qualifying in the afternoon as Hopkins will be going all out to secure the best starting position for Sunday’s Grand Prix Of Turkey. John Hopkins: “As far as the track goes it’s amazing. The layout is fantastic, it’s fun and I really enjoy myself around here. Unfortunately I feel really lousy at the moment with some sort of cold symptoms. It’s like an overnight flu but we’re doing everything we can and hope that I will be able to fulfil my full potential around here this weekend because I really like it. I am able to do some consistently good lap times but we still have a few bits and bobs to sort out. I’m sure everything will be alright and we’re going to do everything we can to myself and to the bike to make that happen. I’m looking forward to the race on Sunday.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “Everyone at Suzuki is impressed with the facility here at Istanbul and the racetrack itself is the kind of place that makes you wish you were riding yourself! The track has everything, incredibly quick corners, a stadium type section and lots of undulations – certainly a rider’s track! This morning John was very strong on the GSV-R, we ran lots of quick laps and were very competitive over the course of the session. This afternoon unlike all of our competitors we didn’t improve, probably largely as a result of John’s cold symptoms. This afternoon he looked like he should have been tucked up in bed rather than out on a MotoGP bike. This afternoon though we did get a lot more data some good some bad and if we can tidy up the bike and John’s illness there is no reason why we can’t be more competitive in tomorrow’s qualifying and Sunday’s race.” More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda: FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE AT NEW ISTANBUL PARK CIRCUIT The MotoGP riders today had two and a half hours at their disposal to learn the new circuit on the outskirts of Istanbul, thanks to a half-hour extension of the morning session; an extension which will be repeated tomorrow. An astute decision from the organisers, because the unanimous opinion of engineers and riders was that the track is a great design and very spectacular, but is extremely challenging and technical, not only from a riding point of view, but also in terms of set-up. Alex Barros, who is still suffering physically from his crash in the Australian race, put in a lot of laps in the morning session as he began to work on the set-up of his RC211V. Chris Vermeulen, increasingly at ease on the Honda, was consistently amongst the top ten in the morning, before making various adjustments to his RC211V using a single rear tyre. Sito Pons Camel Honda “This is a decent track, it’s great from a design point of view and also scores highly in terms of safety, even though there are a couple of areas which could be improved a bit. Everybody seems to like it though, because it’s very varied and technical but it’s also very complicated in terms of bike settings, especially in setting-up the forks and the front tyre. That’s where our riders are having the problems at the moment. Tomorrow we will get another extra half-hour to work in and we will try to improve the set-up by working on the engine management, the suspension and the gearbox.” Alex Barros Camel Honda 1’55.670 12th fastest “This is one of the best tracks I’ve ever seen. It’s technical, with every kind of corner, slow, double-apexes, blind braking areas, fast corners, up and down hills”¦ there’s everything basically to get the most enjoyable ride. I would like to be a little better physically but I don’t want to complain because after Sunday’s crash it could be worse. As for the bike, it’s quite good in the second half of the track, but in the first seven corners we’re losing a lot still. The bike doesn’t turn and we are very slow. I think there are several things to work on, from the forks settings, to the suspension and the chassis geometry. Tomorrow we’ll focus on those things.” Chris Vermeulen Camel Honda 1’56.665 14th fastest “This morning I felt good almost immediately on this great track, because it’s exciting and enjoyable. On the grip was missing slightly but by the second session the track had seen some rubber laid down which helped things. This afternoon I managed to set a better lap-time, but after a few laps with the rear tyre from the morning, I used just one tyre all session, working through the bike settings. Towards the end obviously it wasn’t going to perform at the same level. So we didn’t really try to do anything out of the ordinary we just worked on the front, which is improving all the time in terms of feeling. Perhaps tomorrow, with the help of Michelin, we can try some tyres and get the lap-time down a bit.” More, from a press release issued by Telefonica Movistar Honda: A PERFECT START Marco Melandri and Sete Gibernau begin to discover the Turkish track with the first and second fastest times on the opening day GP OF TURKEY – MOTOGP FREE PRACTICE The Telefónica Movistar Honda MotoGP team made the best possible start to the Grand Prix of Turkey, with Marco Melandri and Sete Gibernau setting the pace on the first day of free practice. Both riders quickly discovered the secrets to a circuit that combines hard-braking zones with fast corners and they spent the day switching places at the top of the time sheets, ending it as the only riders able to lap in 1’53″. With this being a new circuit the MotoGP riders had an extra hour to get to know the circuit this morning and the team were able to make the most of it. Marco Melandri, who is fighting to finish as runner-up in the championship, has set the benchmark for tomorrow’s qualifying session, when the lap times are sure to come down dramatically. Like his team-mate, Sete Gibernau set consistent lap times and recovered the pace he was missing at the last Grand Prix. Between them and the t! hird fastest Honda there is currently a gap of almost one second. MARCO MELANDRI (1st, 1’53″506): “I am really satisfied. I liked the track straight away, we found the right way to work from the morning session and I immediately had a good feeling with the bike. It felt really natural to ride here because the bike was responding so well the team have done a wonderful job. I am so happy the tyres Michelin have brought here are working really well and the lap times are coming without having to push too hard. I want to keep my feet on the ground because no doubt the other top riders will be closer tomorrow but I’m feeling calm. We’ve started on the right foot.” SETE GIBERNAU (2nd, 1’53″945): “We all started off without knowing how things would go at a new track and things went well to start off with. In the morning we managed to find a good base after studying the data yesterday and this afternoon we reacted well, changing the bike to find a better balance between the hard braking and the fast corners. The bike is very stable now. We didn’t go out to set a fast time but I am happy because the rhythm has been very good. Whilst I’m looking forward to ending the season I want to do so in the best possible way.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: DUCATI MARLBORO MAN CHECA IN THE TOP SIX AT ISTANBUL CIRCUIT Ducati Marlboro Team riders Carlos Checa had Shinichi Ito enjoyed their first taste of the Istanbul Park circuit in fine weather conditions, with Checa featuring strongly in the final analysis of the first day. Substitute rider Ito worked his way back into the rigours of the Grand Prix paddock, stepping up from his regular testing duties for the team’s tyre supplier, Bridgestone. At the very end of the second session of practice, Checa pushed himself to an initial fifth position, only deposed one place after the last riders had completed their final laps. Having never even seen the all-new circuit before arriving in Istanbul, Checa made full use of an extended first session of practice, which was of 90 minutes duration, not the usual 60. Ito, standing in for injured regular Ducati Marlboro rider Loris Capirossi, went 16th fastest out of 19 riders, feeling his way back into the Grand Prix paddock step-by-step. “We can jokingly say that we have to find out when the Gresini team came here to test, as they are so fast right from the start!” said Ducati MotoGP Project Manager Livio Suppo. “It is a strange day all round with such a big gap between the first two riders and the rest. On our side, we are trying to learn the circuit as quickly as possible. I think Carlos found a reasonable set-up at the end of the sessions, so tomorrow we can work around that some more. Ito is working properly with the team.” CHECA ENJOYS NEW MOTOGP VENUE Checa made great strides in the one-hour afternoon session, running out sixth fastest overall, with the single session of official qualifying still to come on Saturday afternoon. “Today we went to the new track for the first time, and it is a nice venue, technical and difficult,” said Checa. “It is fun to ride. We began to work on the set up of the bike to adapt it as soon as possible. We tested a variety of Bridgestone tyres and in the end we found a good compromise, especially regarding the back tyre. That allowed me to be faster at the end. We are still missing something in some points, but tomorrow we will test more front tyres to see if they will allow me to take the corners faster. So far, I am pretty satisfied with the rear tyre and I will make a long distance test tomorrow.” ITO WORKS STEADILY TO MAKE PROGRESS Two new experiences for Ito – his first MotoGP race weekend for Ducati and his first exposure to an all-new circuit – were taken in the stride of the experienced Japanese pilot. “I did not push too much today as it is my first time at this track,” said Ito, “but it’s the same for everybody. The bike feels a bit different from the one I normally use in testing, so I spent most of my time trying to get a balance for the bike and working with the tyres. This track is also quite difficult, because there are so many different corners, so I need to learn it a bit more. There are some slower sections and then some much faster corners.”