2007 FIM MotoGP World Championship Istanbul, Turkey April 22, 2007 Race Results: 1. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, 22 laps, 42:02.850 2. Toni ELIAS (Honda), Bridgestone, -6.207 seconds 3. Loris CAPIROSSI (Ducati), Bridgestone, -8.102 seconds 4. Alex BARROS (Ducati), Bridgestone, -8.135 seconds 5. Marco MELANDRI (Honda), Bridgestone, -8.289 seconds 6. John HOPKINS (Suzuki), Bridgestone, -10.186 seconds 7. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), Michelin, -10.239 seconds 8. Randy DE PUNIET (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, -14.734 seconds 9. Alex HOFMANN (Ducati), Bridgestone, -16.042 seconds 10. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Michelin, -18.999 seconds 11. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, -26.249 seconds, crash 12. Carlos CHECA (Honda), Michelin, -29.546 seconds 13. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Michelin, -36.922 seconds 14. Makoto TAMADA (Yamaha), Dunlop, -38.540 seconds 15. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Yamaha), Dunlop, -39.337 seconds 16. Kenny Lee ROBERTS (Honda), Michelin, -69.336 seconds 17. Olivier JACQUE (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, -22 laps, DNF, crash 18. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Michelin, -22 laps, DNF, crash 19. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, -22 laps, DNF, crash 2007 FIM MotoGP World Championship Point Standings (After 3 of 18 events): 1. STONER, 61 points 2. ROSSI, 51 points 3. PEDROSA, 36 points 4. ELIAS, 35 points 5. MELANDRI, 30 points 6. TIE, EDWARDS/HAYDEN, 26 points 8. BARROS, 25 points 9. HOPKINS, 23 points 10. VERMEULEN, 21 points 11. CAPIROSSI, 20 points 12. NAKANO, 15 points 13. CHECA, 14 points 14. HOFMANN, 12 points 15. DE PUNIET, 11 points 16. TIE, JACQUE/TAMADA, 4 points 18. TIE, ROBERTS/GUINTOLI, 3 points More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Bridgestone celebrates tenth MotoGP victory with first ever 1-2-3 Round 03 – Turkey – Race Istanbul Park, Istanbul – Sunday 22 April 2007 Bridgestone is celebrating an historic performance this afternoon after its riders dominated the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul. Ducati’s Casey Stoner took the lead on the opening lap and never looked back, leading home Honda Gresini’s Toni Elias and team-mate Loris Capirossi for the first ever Bridgestone 1-2-3 in a MotoGP event. The win marked the tenth victory on Bridgestone tyres in MotoGP. Pramac d’Antin’s Alex Barros hounded Capirossi for the final podium place in the closing laps but settled for an equally impressive fourth at the chequered flag. Marco Melandri took fifth for Honda Gresini with Suzuki’s John Hopkins in sixth, both men putting in excellent performances. Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet and Pramac d’Antin’s Alex Hofmann made it eight Bridgestone-shod riders in the top ten, by far the most competitive performance by Bridgestone tyres in the corporation’s comparatively short MotoGP history. An early crash involving Dani Pedrosa (Honda), Colin Edwards (Yamaha), Olivier Jacque (Kawasaki) and Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) resulted in only Vermeulen able to rejoin the race. Such was his competitiveness coming back up through the field, the Australian was able to set the quickest lap of the race (1m54.026s) on his penultimate lap to reclaim a fighting eleventh place. The consistency of Stoner’s race winning pace meant that the young Australian posted seven laps of 1m54.2s with only his opening and final lap over 1m54.8s, a variation of just 0.6s over twenty laps. Hiroshi Yamada Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Sport Department “Today’s result is fantastic for Bridgestone as we celebrate our tenth MotoGP victory with our first ever MotoGP 1-2-3. For me this is a real dream come true. Congratulations to Ducati, who sit at the top of the championships, as well as to the Honda Gresini team for their first podium this year. Turkey has always been a tough track for us and it has been particularly gratifying that we have been able to find a breakthrough for this year’s performance. We had five riders in the top eight with each of our teams, which is an incredible achievement. I would like to express my thanks to all five of our teams for their patience and support while we have worked hard to find solutions for this circuit and we look forward to continuing this trend in the upcoming races.” Tohru Ubukata Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development “We are obviously delighted with the results from today’s race. As an engineer, we are always looking for continuous improvement in our technological development, so we are not going to take today’s performance for granted. Nevertheless we take great pride in the technical advances we have made since last year’s Turkish GP, a race in which we really struggled. Our direction for tyre development appears to be correct and certainly paid dividends today. I hope we can confirm this in the next GP in China in two weeks’ time.” Casey Stoner Ducati Corse Race Winner “We had a great race today. Really, with the way the Ducati and the Bridgestone tyres were today we couldn’t do anything wrong. I got past Colin (Edwards) on the first lap because I wanted to make sure I didn’t get held up and bumped back like in Jerez. Then Valentino ran off the track, pretty much gifting me first position. From there we put some good laps together, built a gap and continued from there because some of the other riders were having a battle. The Bridgestone tyres were absolutely perfect, in fact the whole package was just perfect. With everybody working together I think we can do a really good job and I think and I hope that we can get stronger as the season goes on.” Bridgestone Race Results Front Rear P1 Casey Stoner Ducati 42m02.850s Winner Slick Hard Slick Hard P2 Toni Elias Honda Gresini 42m09.057s +6.207s Slick Hard Slick Medium P3 Loris Capirossi Ducati 42m10.952s +8.102s Slick Hard Slick Hard P4 Alex Barros Pramac d’Antin 42m10.985s +8.135s Slick Hard Slick Hard P5 Marco Melandri Honda Gresini 42m11.139s +8.289s Slick Medium Slick Hard P6 John Hopkins Suzuki 42m13.036s +10.186s Slick Hard Slick Hard P8 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 42m17.584s +14.734s Slick Hard Slick Medium P9 Alex Hofmann Pramac d’Antin 42m18.892s +16.042s Slick Hard Slick Hard P11 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 42m29.099s +26.249s Slick Hard Slick Medium DNF Olivier Jacque Kawasaki Did Not Finish First Lap Slick Medium Slick Medium Weather: Dry. Air 23°C, Track 38°C, Humidity 13% More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Casey Stoner took his second victory of the 2007 season at the Grand Prix of Turkey in a classic race more than a match for last year’s exciting duel. The Australian now leads the championship on 61 points, with a ten point advantage over Valentino Rossi, after triumphing by over six seconds from Toni Elias and Loris Capirossi. The Ducati rider was almost gifted the lead early on, when his and team-mate Capirossi’s pressure forced poleman Rossi to run along the grass at the end of the first lap. Seconds later, the major talking point of the day occurred, as Dani Pedrosa and Olivier Jacque collided, turning the Frenchman’s Kawasaki into something of bowling ball, taking out Colin Edwards on the Fiat Yamaha. Also caught up in the incident were Chris Vermeulen and Sylvain Guintoli; the former picking up his bike after being hit by Pedrosa, the latter having to ride all the way round the debris on the run-off section. Toni Elias in second place was unable to trouble the flying Stoner, but had plenty of his own pursuers nipping at his heels. The Spaniard had started fantastically from tenth, and was battling hard with Rossi in fearless fashion leading to a near-miss between the two riders. The move put Elias in second, where he stayed until the chequered flag, and Rossi right back into the thick of the chasing pack, where he further dropped down before finishing a lowly tenth. Capirossi completed the podium, holding off a flu-ridden Alex Barros on the line. The two veterans exchanged places on consecutive corners, and with a few extra metres on the final straight the Brazilian may have taken Pramac d’Antin Ducati’s first ever podium. Marco Melandri threatened a repeat of 2006 as he looked to make it a hat trick of victories in Turkey, but couldn’t make his challenge stick with the top four breaking away. World Champion Nicky Hayden was pipped on the line by John Hopkins after holding firm throughout the race. Hayden was seventh ahead of Randy de Puniet, Alex Hofmann and Rossi. 250cc Andrea Dovizioso finally brought an end to Jorge Lorenzo’s perfect record in 2007, displaying his new-found aggression once again to beat his fierce rival to victory in Turkey. The Italian battled tooth and nail for every centimetre onboard the Team Scot Honda, heading the podium which involved the same three riders as at Jerez three weeks ago. Starting from pole, Dovizioso took the holeshot to draw first blood in the showdown, leading in the early stages before intermittent turns by eventual third-placed rider Alvaro Bautista and reigning World Champion Lorenzo. In amongst all this, last year’s race winner Hiroshi Aoyama crashed out, and brother Shuhei and Aleix Espargaro both received ride-through penalties for jump starts. On the final lap, Dovizioso and Lorenzo came into contact on the final section of Istanbul Park, with the Italian holding his ground and Bautista attempting to take advantage. He maintained the advantage on the final straight, and took his first victory of the year to round off a fantastic weekend. Just off the podium once again, Alex de Angelis was unable to join in a battle which he would surely have relished. He came in ahead of 250cc rookies Thomas Luthi, Mika Kallio and Julian Simon, with the top ten completed by Hector Barbera, Marco Simoncelli and Fabrizio Lai. 125cc Simone Corsi took his first ever 125cc victory in a dramatic opening race at the Istanbul Park circuit, edging out Joan Olive after starting from third on the grid. With Gabor Talmacsi, Hector Faubel and Lukas Pesek having been the only riders to step onto the podium this year, it was a somewhat surprising turnaround to see neither of the three on the rostrum today. The race started with a scare for the unlucky poleman Mattia Pasini, who suffered mechanical problems in Qatar and Spain in the opening two rounds. The Italian stalled his engine on the line in an ominous sign of things to come, experiencing more serious technical problems on lap three whilst in the lead and dropping down the field. A final kick in the teeth for the distraught Pasini came on the final lap, when he was forced out of the race and forced to leave Turkey still without any World Championship points to his name. After Pasini had left the leading group, a seven rider pack all battled for the victory. Tomoyoshi Koyama, who completed today’s podium, had his best race of the season and an intense battle with eventual fourth place finisher Raffaele de Rosa. Talmacsi continues to lead the championship, although was outside the top three spots ahead of Lukas Pesek, Lorenzo Zanetti and Bradley Smith. The latter equalled his best ever finish, and climbed as high up as fifth in the standings before the more experienced heads pushed him wide onto the rumble strip on the final corner. Andrea Iannone and Hector Faubel completed the top ten, with the Spaniard effectively opening up the race when he went off track as part of the first group. The only consolation for the Aspar rider will be that his rivals also failed to make the podium spots. The next race of the 2007 season takes place in China on May 6th. More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing Honda: ELIAS STORMS TO SECOND AT ISTANBUL PARK Another great fight back from Marco Melandri The Grand Prix of Turkey remains a special event for Team Honda Gresini after another magnificent display from both riders to end a tough weekend for the team. Whilst Marco Melandri has won here for the past two seasons, today it was Toni Elias’ turn to step up to the podium after taking second place behind Casey Stoner. A perfect start from row four allowed the Spaniard to battle with the leading riders and Elias slid his way spectacularly through to second place by the tenth lap, a position he maintained to the end of the race. There was also a stunning charge from Marco Melandri, who went from 14th on the grid to fifth. Despite his lowly grid position the Italian set an extremely competitive pace throughout the race which allowed him to come out of what promised to be a difficult day with some solid points. TONI ELIAS (2nd in the race, 4th in the championship on 35 points): “It was like a 125 race with some unbelievable passes. I concentrated on getting a perfect start and made as many passes as I could on the opening laps but I got stuck behind Hopkins for too long. Once I got past him my pace was good and I was also able to take Rossi. I couldn’t challenge for the lead because Casey was so fast so I decided to focus on maintaining my position. I have to thank the team and Bridgestone for the faith they have shown in me. I feel mature and confident because I still think we can improve even more.” MARCO MELANDRI (5th in the race – 5th in the championship on 30 points): “I got a good start but I also lost a lot of time behind Hopkins because he was braking on the limit. I had a good pace and was able to fight for the podium with Capirossi and Barros but the bike started to vibrate and that slowed me down. I have to thank the team because they’ve done a great job and so have Bridgestone – the tyres were fantastic today.” More, from a press release issued by Konica Minolta Honda: KONICA MINOLTA Honda 13th on a tough day KONICA MINOLTA Honda rider Shinya Nakano took 13th position during today’s 22-lap race at Istanbul Park. Despite a fairly good start, Shinya Nakano had to try and avoid a first lap incident, which saw Kawasaki’s Olivier Jacque go out of control and take out Yamaha’s Colin Edwards and Honda’s Dani Pedrosa. Shinya dropped back through the order and worked hard to make up positions but a lack of feeling in the front-end of his Honda RCV212V meant he still couldn’t carry the corner-speed that he wanted, leaving him in 13th position not exactly what he expected to celebrate his 100th premier class start of his career. The Team has vowed to work hard with HRC and Michelin in a bid to solve the problems in time for the Chinese GP, which takes place in two-weeks time. Gianluca Montiron Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA Honda “We have suffered from some problems that has meant that it has been hard for Shinya to push hard in the corners without some risk to himself. When you see Valentino Rossi in 10th, the results show that this situation affects many riders on the same tyre. I think maybe our tyres can work well but they are sensitive to temperature and this weekend we saw many changes in conditions over all three days and between morning and afternoon. We always knew that there would be a question mark over this race as no-one has tested here and this is the first race in Turkey with the new 800cc machines and the restricted tyre rule. I think now we have to work hard with our partners HRC and Michelin to permit Shinya to carry lots of corner speed. We must learn from this situation and work hard with our partners to improve things in time for the Chinese GP.” Shinya Nakano Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda (13th position) “My start was okay, but when the big accident happened I was trying to avoid getting caught up in it and then lost 10th place. I knew it was going to be a hard race from then on. We suffered again from a lack of feeling from the front-end of the bike, but at least we did get some points and that was one of my targets from this weekend, which is one of the first races in a long season. Our problems have come from a combination of things, but I know Honda and Michelin will work hard together with our Team and we’re hopeful of better results in later races.” Giulio Bernardelle Technical Director, KONICA MINOLTA Honda “Our problem seems to be from a combination of the tyres and the machine. The positive point is that we have a clear idea about the problem we have with the bike, and this feeling is backed up by the data and telemetry. Unfortunately adding to our problem was the fact that our tyre was also not the best here today. Our way forward is clear as we must now make this comment to HRC and decide what to do for the future races.” More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: DISAPPOINTMENT FOR ROSSI AND EDWARDS ON UNLUCKY DAY IN TURKEY High hopes for Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards went unfulfilled today as the Fiat Yamaha Team riders, who started from first and second on the grid, were both victims of bad luck at Istanbul Park. The pair got a good start and were leading the pack into turn one before Edwards dropped back as he was unable to get enough heat into his tyre and Rossi made a mistake and ran wide at turn eleven. Disaster then struck for Edwards as he was hit from behind by another rider and sent tumbling into the gravel trap in a crash that involved four riders in total. Rossi meanwhile seemed to be going well and had fought back to second behind eventual winner Casey Stoner, before he suffered a serious rear tyre problem that forced him to roll off the gas and drop right back through the field. The Italian had to use all his talents to keep himself in the race and he eventually brought his Yamaha home in tenth position, taking what were a creditable six points under the circumstances. Rossi now drops to second place in the championship standings, ten points behind Stoner and 15 ahead of Dani Pedrosa, who was also involved in the first-lap crash. Edwards’ unlucky non-finish, only the second in his Yamaha career, means he drops down to sixth. The Fiat Yamaha Team have a one-day test planned tomorrow although Edwards will wait until the morning to confirm if he will ride after badly bruising his knee when he was knocked down. Valentino Rossi Position: 10th Time: +18.999 “We are very disappointed today because we had high expectations for this race, but instead we had some unexpected problems with the tyre and it’s been a disaster for us. Yesterday and this morning the same race tyre felt good but unfortunately today something happened to it after some laps and I couldn’t fulfil the potential we had here. We don’t know the reason yet for the problem but now Michelin are trying to understand what happened. I had a great start and was leading on the first lap, although I made a mistake at turn eleven when I ran wide and dropped to fifth. However at that stage my bike was working very well and I was able to fight back to second; I felt sure that I was going to have a good battle with Stoner! Sadly though, after ten or eleven laps, the tyre started to lose all grip and I had to slow right down because I was quite scared. It felt like there was a big problem with the tyre and I had to go very carefully just to finish. We were very unlucky today, we started first and second but Colin crashed when he was hit and then I had this problem. I’m also quite unhappy with Elias today because I think he was quite dangerous – more than once he passed me on the inside and then altered his line. This is not a correct way to race. We’re all quite sad tonight but we have many more races so we will look forward now to China.” Colin Edwards Position: DNF Time: “I got a great start but I had some problems getting heat into the rear tyre, which we were expecting at the start anyway. As a result I couldn’t corner so well and I slipped right back on that first lap. Then Valentino ran off the track a bit at the fast right turn and I think everyone was checking up a bit and looking at him instead of thinking about the next corner! It seemed that everyone around me ran a bit wide into turn 12 but I braked normally and went underneath them when Jacque hit me from behind and I went down. I’m not badly hurt but my knee took a bit of a bang and it’s swollen up quite a lot. It’s pretty disappointing because we know my bike was working well and once I got some heat into the tyre it might have been a good race.” Davide Brivio Fiat Yamaha Team Director “A very difficult and disappointing race for us! Colin was very unlucky as he was hit from behind through no fault of his own and there was no way for him to avoid the crash. He has some bad bruising to his knee but we hope it’s nothing too serious. Valentino made a mistake on lap one but he recovered well and it looked like he was set for a good race, but we had some problems with the tyre. We’d chosen the hardest and best tyre that we had available to us but it wasn’t enough to fight with our competitors today. We now have to work with Michelin during tomorrow’s test to understand why this happened and learn from the mistake. It was very hard for Valentino to keep going until the end in this situation but he didn’t give up and took some valuable points; we’re still second in the championship so let’s move on from here and look forward to China.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: First lap incident costs Vermeulen podium challenge Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen was involved in a first lap crash at today’s Turkish Grand Prix, almost definitely costing him a place on the podium – his race pace after he and rejoined the race was as good as any other rider on the track. Vermeulen was caught up in a four rider crash, caused by Kawasaki’s Olivier Jacque and also involving Dani Pedrosa and Colin Edwards. Vermeulen’s bike was lying on top of Pedrosa’s and the determined Australian dragged it off, got back on and re-joined the race. The Rizla Suzuki GSV-R sustained some damage in the accident but Vermeulen battled back to secure 11th place at the end of the race, setting the fastest time on the penultimate lap. The accident cost Vermeulen over 22 seconds from start to finish and his final race time was only 20 seconds off second place. John Hopkins was involved in an equally exciting race. The 23-year old Anglo-American battled all race long for the podium, but the highly competitive 800cc championship meant he had to fight for every place and eventually brought his GSV-R home in sixth place, just ahead of World Champion Nicky Hayden. Over 40,000 people watched Casey Stoner on the Bridgestone-shod Ducati take victory at a sunny Istanbul circuit, and also witness Bridgestone have the first six bikes across the line for the first time ever in GP history. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP now travels to the Far East for round four of the MotoGP World Championship at Shanghai in China on Sunday 6th May. Chris Vermeulen: “I got a bit boxed in on the first lap and immediately got involved in a battle, but we soon straightened things out. I had just passed Alex Barros when another rider took out Edwards and Pedrosa right in front of me and I had nowhere to go but down. That was the worst part of the race, but luckily my bike was still running and lying on top of Pedrosa’s. I grabbed the clutch, pulled my bike off his and re-joined the race. My handlebar was bent and the fairing was broken but everything else seemed to be fine. I gave it a lap or two to see if everything was ok and then just got my head down and went for it. I started to chase after the other guys and do some fast, consistent laps. I kept it as smooth as I could and managed to get up to 11th. I know I set the fastest lap near the end so who knows what might have happened if I hadn’t have crashed. We now need to take this forward to China, qualify well and make sure we don’t get knocked off again!” John Hopkins: “It was certainly a dogfight out there! I would firstly like to thank and congratulate Bridgestone. They have done a great job here especially on my behalf. Last year I had to pit for a new tyre and this year they had the top six places, so well done to them. I got a decent enough start and made some early passes, and I got my head down and really got stuck into the race. At about half distance I got involved in a hell of a fight where everything just kept turning upside down. One minute I was in seventh then up to fourth or third and then back to sixth. I had to work for every bit today and would definitely like to have gone for that podium place, but we got some good points. Now it’s time to go to China, I got a fourth there last year and I’m really looking forward to going back. It’s a nice flowing track and I think the Suzuki GSV-R and the Bridgestone tyres will work well!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “Rizla Suzuki MotoGP had high hopes yesterday of a great result here. We did see a good performance, but unfortunately it was not a great result. For me the ride of the GP came from Chris Vermeulen, he had enough pace to win the race! To pick himself up and achieve such fast lap-times immediately, and with a damaged bike, was just incredible. It also culminated in him setting the fastest time on the penultimate lap of the race. It just shows what a true racer he is and if everything goes his way he certainly has the ability to challenge MotoGP’s established stars on a regular basis. “John rode a brilliant first lap to get to third position, and was involved in a frenetic battle throughout the race and we are all a bit disappointed that we couldn’t quite get that podium we are after. Nonetheless the Suzuki GSV-R has worked really well here in Turkey, Bridgestone has dominated all weekend, now let’s go to China and carry on the good work!” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: FANTASTIC DAY FOR DUCATI MARLBORO MEN Ducati Marlboro Team man Casey Stoner scored a masterful victory at Istanbul Park today to regain the World Championship lead while team-mate Loris Capirossi announced his renaissance with a gritty ride to third place. The pair’s impressive performance also puts Ducati at the top of the constructors’ title chase and the Ducati Marlboro Team at the top of the teams’ championship. Stoner swept into the lead at the end of the first lap and no one could get close enough to challenge him after that, the Australian extending his advantage throughout to win by 6.2 seconds. Capirossi had a less lonely race, running second behind Stoner early on, then battling back and forth with a group of riders. He lost third place to fellow Ducati GP7 rider Alex Barros exiting Turn 11 on the last lap but fought back into the final chicane to take his first podium of 2007. Three Ducatis in the top four made this the best-ever MotoGP race for the legendary Italian marque. Bridgestone also enjoyed its best MotoGP result, monopolising the top six places. Casey Stoner, race winner, World Championship leader on 61 points “We had a great race, unfortunately some of the other riders didn’t have such a good race. Really, with the way the Ducati and the Bridgestones were today we couldn’t do anything wrong. I got past Colin (Edwards) on the first lap because I wanted to make sure I didn’t get held up and bumped back like in Jerez. Then Valentino ran off the track, pretty much gifting me first position. From there we put some good laps together, built a gap and continued from there because some of the other riders were having a battle. I don’t want to sound confident, but at first I was pushing hard to get a gap, then after it got to 2.53 seconds I tried to slow the pace, just to make sure everything was safe, and the lap times actually dropped from trying to go a bit slower. The Bridgestone tyres were absolutely perfect, in fact the whole package was just perfect. I have to thank a lot of people, all the team and everybody who’s contributed to my career, including Anthony Peadon (Australian former international sprint cyclist) for training me over the last few weeks. We are really determined this year, we’re not expecting much, we’re just doing the best job we can. With Ducati and Marlboro and everybody together I think we can do a really good job and I think and I hope that we can get stronger as the season goes on.” Loris Capirossi, 3rd place, 11th in World Championship on 20 points “The whole weekend has been fantastic for me, I’m back! Twenty days ago I had the best moment of my life when our first kid was born, so now I’m enjoying riding again and I hope my championship starts here because we still have 15 races to go. Everything worked so good, I got a good start and tried to follow Casey but he was so strong and I preferred to go a little slower. I fought a lot, especially with Alex on the last lap. I lost the front in the fast right, my bike start shaking a lot and Alex overtook me, so I said ‘okay, I have only one opportunity to make the podium, to out-brake Alex at the chicane’. I want to say thank you very much to team, to everyone for keeping confidence in me after two difficult races.” Federico Minoli, President and CEO Ducati Motor Holding “Three Ducatis in the top four is really amazing, it’s our best-ever result in MotoGP, a fantastic day. Casey has been so strong all weekend, Loris showed a lot of character holding onto third and I’m really happy for Alex too. To see our other team go so well is another testimony to the talent of our engineers. Casey again showed great maturity, he kept extending his advantage throughout the race and always kept his cool. The kid has a great future in front of him.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: RANDY RACES TO BEST RESULT YET IN ISTANBUL Randy de Puniet finished today’s Turkish Grand Prix in eighth place, his best result to date since moving up to the MotoGP class with Kawasaki at the start of the 2006 season. De Puniet’s race didn’t get off to the best start, after difficulties getting his Ninja ZX-RR off the line dropped him back to 13th place at turn one, but he recovered quickly as he chased hard to catch the group of riders ahead of him. De Puniet’s consistency, combined with the impressive performance of his Bridgestone tyres, allowed the Kawasaki pilot to bridge the gap to current championship leader Valentino Rossi, who was the last man in a six-way battle for third place, with just five laps of the race remaining. De Puniet was quick to put in a pass on Rossi for eighth place in the final turn, but the Italian managed to retake the position on the main straight. The Kawasaki rider eventually made the pass stick at turn four, but by then, with just three laps left to run, the gap to the ongoing battle for the final podium position was too big to bridge. But eighth place, just 14 seconds behind race winner Casey Stoner (Ducati), is de Puniet’s best result in the premier class to date, and one on which he is keen to improve on further as the season progresses. But while de Puniet was satisfied with the performance of himself and his Ninja ZX-RR today, his Kawasaki teammate, Olivier Jacque, was left battered and bruised after crashing out of the race on the opening lap. The 33-year-old Kawasaki rider moved to the inside of the track to pass Alex Barros (Ducati) and Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) on the run down to the final turn, but with his view obscured by other riders Jacque missed his braking marker and got into the final turn too hot. Realising his mistake, Jacque tried to look for a gap through which to run on, but was unable to avoid colliding with the rear of Colin Edward’s Yamaha at the apex of the turn. Jacque and Edwards both crashed as a result of the collision, with Dani Pedrosa (Honda) and Vermeulen also crashing whilst taking avoiding action. Jacque was lucky to escape with just a sore head and a bruised coccyx, but these minor injuries are enough to rule him out of Kawasaki’s planned development test at the Istanbul Park circuit tomorrow. Randy De Puniet 8th Place “I got a pretty bad start today. I don’t know what happened, but the bike didn’t respond immediately when I released the clutch. I was making up the places again, but then I made another mistake on the back straight. I was ninth at the end of the first lap and not far from the leading group. I had a nice fight with Barros and Hayden but in two laps I lost about three seconds trying to pass Rossi. I finally did it four laps to the end but the gap with the front guys was too big and I could only keep my pace and finish in eighth position. I am happy because I felt good and got mine and my team’s best result of the season, though I am sure that if I hadn’t had a bad start I could have finished in a better position. I will try again in China.” Olivier Jacque DNF “I am really sorry about what happened and there are no excuses: I made a mistake. I got a decent start and I was feeling good. It was a big group and I saw a good opportunity to make places up after the fast turn into the chicane. I was in the middle of the group and I missed my braking marker and when I braked it was too late. There was no space. I had no way out and couldn’t avoid touching Edward’s rear wheel. I made high flight and landed on my coccyx. I thought I had broken it, as it was really painful, but luckily it is not. Now I still feel a little bit dizzy but I feel even worse for the team as we had worked really hard throughout the weekend and the bike was feeling very good. I’m really looking forward to China to work even harder and reward them.” Michael Bartholemy Kawasaki Competition Manager “From the start of this weekend you could see that we’ve made a significant improvement to our Ninja ZX-RR since the last race in Jerez, which meant we went into today’s race confident of a strong performance. Randy rode a good race to score his best result since moving up to the MotoGP class, but if we continue to work hard on the development of the bike, as we have over the past three weeks, then I don’t think it will be long before he’s able to improve further on this result. I have to say that the performance of his Bridgestone tyres definitely helped him today. With eight out of the top ten finishers, I think Bridgestone can be happy with their performance here in Istanbul. Olivier was also capable of securing a good result today, so it was disappointing that he crashed out on the opening lap. He has held his hands up and accepted it was his mistake, but I’m sorry for Colin Edwards and the others who were caught up in the crash. Olivier had a bang on the head and has badly bruised his lower back, so he won’t test tomorrow, but he should be fully fit again for Shanghai.” More, from a press release issued by Team Roberts: TOUGH RACE FOR ROBERTS JR IN TURKEY Istanbul Park, Turkey – April 22, 2007: Kenny Roberts Junior’s hopes of regaining ground after last-minute changes improved his machine were dashed from the start of today’s Turkish GP, when an as-yet unexplained change in rear tyre performance meant he could do nothing but nurse the bike to the finish. Roberts had qualified a disappointing 18th, after running out of time to find new chassis settings to adjust to a new and stiffer rear swing-arm… but in race-morning warm-up front suspension and geometry changes improved his situation. The rear tyre problem meant he was unable to exploit that. The team is staying on at Istanbul Park to test tomorrow, to continue adjustments that will make the most of the latest rear suspension improvements. The race, round 22 laps of the spectacular 5.340 km Istanbul Park circuit, was held in warm, sunny conditions, in front of a crowd of more than 40,000. It was won by Australian Casey Stoner (Ducati), his second victory in three races. Kenny Roberts Jr.: 16th position It felt like the rear tyre went flat. It didn’t feel right on the sighting lap. I thought it might come in, but it never did. I thought it was flat and I was kind of nervous about what the problem might be; because when they’re not the right pressure and have that type of feeling you can’t be careful enough. Around the last five laps I also seemed to pick up a vibration, not sure if the two things are related or not but the guys will check it out. Chuck Aksland: Team Manager Obviously there was a problem from the beginning of the race. Watching his lap times it’s quite unusual to be so far off the pace at the beginning. It looks to be some issue with the back tyre. We checked the pressure on the grid as usual, and it was normal, but obviously it didn’t feel right for him. Michelin are checking it out so we’ll wait to see what they find out. After the changes we made in morning warm-up he was fairly happy with the bike. I think we made some progress. Top speed seems to be a bit of an issue, but he was happy with everything else. We’ve got some things to try tomorrow and we will look to develop some settings around the revised swing-arms that we brought here. More, from a press release issued by Honda: ELIAS FIGHTS TO SECOND, DANI TAKEN OUT ON LAP ONE A dramatic MotoGP race unfolded in front of a 40,000 crowd here at Istanbul Park with Casey Stoner (Ducati) winning from Toni Elias (Gresini Honda RC212V) with Loris Capirossi (Ducati) third. But a first lap incident took Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) out of the race. Elias started from 10th on the grid after a mediocre qualifying performance, but his race efforts were huge and he willed himself through the field to the podium although he could not catch the runaway Stoner. In sunny conditions with negligible wind, 23 degrees ambient temperature and the track gradually warming up throughout the day to 38 degrees, the conditions were set for a full throttle encounter over 22-laps of this demanding 5.430km track. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who struggled to reach the flag in tenth at the end, got the holeshot from the lights and led the pack into the tricky off-camber, downhill left that is turn one. His team-mate Colin Edwards was in close pursuit along with Stoner and Capirossi. But there was to be drama on this opening lap. First leader Rossi ran wide on the exit of the high-speed uphill turn 11 slipping down the order to fifth. But behind him into the final three-turn complex, chaos ensued as Olivier Jacque (Kawasaki) clipped Pedrosa’s front wheel and then cannoned into Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) whose machine then took out Edwards. No rider was seriously hurt, but all bar Vermeulen were out of contention. Stoner was away. He set a fastest lap on lap four and by lap seven he had a 1.4 second lead over his team-mate Capirossi, with Rossi in third, Elias already up to fourth, John Hopkins (Suzuki) fifth, Marco Melandri (Gresini Honda RC212V) sixth and reigning World Champion Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) seventh. Rossi shifted past Capirossi on lap nine and Toni did likewise. On the following lap Elias squeezed past Rossi into the final complex as Capirossi slid back through the order before recovering his composure from this mid-race onslaught to climb back to third in the closing laps. It was Rossi who was in the biggest trouble. The Italian was overhauled by such unlikely candidates as Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) and Alex Hofmann (Ducati) and he was clearly in severe difficulties on his Yamaha. The unstoppable Stoner was six seconds ahead of Elias in the final laps and Toni himself was comfortably clear of the scrap for third intensifying between Capirossi, Alex Barros (Ducati), Marco Melandri and Hopkins. Barros got his nose ahead of Capirossi on the final lap exiting turn 11 but the dogged Capirossi out-braked him into the complex to emerge from the final turn ahead. Melandri had to be happy with fifth after a wretched qualifying session, while Nicky rode with the will of a World Champion to secure seventh after a troubled weekend. But it will be young guns Stoner and Elias who will derive the most satisfaction from this episode. Toni said, “It was like a 125 race with some unbelievable passes being made. I just concentrated on getting as perfect a start as I could and then I was stuck behind Hopkins too long. Once I got past him I took Rossi but couldn’t challenge for the lead because Casey was so fast. I just tried to maintain my position. Thanks to the team and Bridgestone for their faith in me. I feel mature and confident and I know that I can improve even more as a rider.” Marco said, “I got a good start but lost time behind Hopkins but then I got into a good pace and began to fight for the podium with Capirossi and Barros but then the bike started to vibrate and that slowed me down. But thanks to the team and Bridgestone the tyres were fantastic. “My start was decent,” said Nicky. “I made a couple of passes into turn 11 and on lap four I was enjoying the battle and we were having fun. At the end of the race I though I could steal a podium except after halfway I was having real trouble at the fast right-hander. Early in the race it was my best corner. But at the end I just couldn’t get through it. I gave it one last go on the final lap but I has a big moment and barely stayed on.” said Nicky An unhappy Dani said, “A shame about the crash because I had a good chance of a good result. But this track is not lucky for me. My start was not so good, I had a bit of wheelspin off the line and then got caught in a large group on lap one. When I was braking on the final section I got hit on the inside and went down. I have a bit of pain in my neck and my chest but I should be OK for China.” Carlos Checa (LCR Honda RC212V) managed 12th place and said, “That was a very difficult race harder than I anticipated. I didn’t have a good feeling from the engine or the front-end and in turn 11 I almost crashed which was quite scary. I just decided to finish with no risk.” Thirteenth-placed Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda RC212V) said, “My start was OK, but when the big accident happened I was trying to avoid getting caught up in it and then lost 10th place. I knew it was going to be a hard race from then on. We suffered again from a lack of feeling from the front-end of the bike, but at least we got some points and that was one of my targets from this weekend. Our problems have come from a combination of things, but I know Honda and Michelin will work hard together with our team and we’re hopeful of better results in races to come.” Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR212V) in 16th said, “It felt like the rear tyre went flat. It didn’t feel right on the sighting lap and I thought it might come back, but it never did. I was nervous about the problem and with that type of feeling you can’t be careful enough. And in the last five laps I picked up a vibration which the guys will check out.” The World Championship table is headed by Stoner on 61 points from Rossi on 51 with Dani still at the sharp end with 36 points to Elias’s 35 in fourth. Marco Melandri has 30 points. The 250cc race was an epic encounter won by Andrea Dovizioso (Scot Honda RS250RW) from Jorge Lorenzo in second and Alvaro Bautista (both Aprilia) third. Dovi led into turn one from pole and pulled out a 1.6 second lead over Bautista by the end of lap one but the Spaniard soon overhauled Dovi setting an early fastest lap as he did so. A five rider group then established itself at the front: Bautista, Dovi, Lorenzo, Alex de Angelis and Tom Luthi (all Aprilia bar Dovi). Then Bautista and Dovi moved away from the other trio before Lorenzo put in a series of quick laps to get back in touch with the lead duo. By lap 13 Lorenzo took the lead but he could not perform his often customary disappearing act as Dovi turned in a fastest lap of 1m 57.815 to stay with him. By lap 17 of this 20-lapper Dovi led again before Lorenzo took him at the mid-lap chicane. Dovi fought back to re-pass him both Lorenzo and Bautista passed him on the brakes into the three turn final complex. The final lap was gripping, Lorenzo leading Dovi and Bautista all the way into the braking area for the final section. Dovi slipped up the inside and held his line for the final two turns stealing a glance inside him before the final left to check where Lorenzo was on track. He powered across the line to record his first win of 2006 and get his title challenge rolling. He said, “That was a really important race. It was fast and hard fought with quite a bit of contact. This win is vital for the Championship, which starts here for us. It was hard and there will be no easy races for anyone this season.” Julian Simon (Repsol Honda RS250RW) finished seventh 23 seconds off the race pace of the winner. The World Championship order is: Lorenzo on 70 points, Dovi with 52, Alex de Angelis, who was 4th here, on 46 points and Bautista fourth overall with 36. A thrilling 125cc race verdict went to Simone Corsi, this is the Italian’s second podium finish, but his first ever win. Second was Joan Olive (both Aprilia) with Tomo Koyama (KTM) third. Corsi led the field into the downhill turn one and established himself in the lead group that was soon headed by Hector Faubel before Mattia Pasini (both Aprilia) took control of the group. Pasini would soon drop out with mechanical problems, likewise Faubel (but not until the latter stages of this 19-lap race). A seven rider group led the chasing pack with Olive and Corsi never further back than in the top three positions until the halfway stage when the pair pulled clear to dispute the win between themselves. Bradley Smith (Repsol Honda RS125R) latched onto the leading group of seven as the final laps began. The 16-year-old British rider hoisted himself to sixth as he got in touch with the group, then fifth, before succumbing to the greater experience of his rivals. He eventually crossed the line in eighth to equal his best ever Grand Prix finish so far. Honda’s youngest Grand Prix runner said, “Last night we worked a little on the gearbox, a little on the engine and suspension and a little on me too everything added up to 0.5 seconds in the warm up and the race. I was up to sixth and could see a possible podium place but at the last corner Koyama san touched Talmacsi and he went across the front of me. I thought about passing him on the inside but I went outside and hit the kerb, was up in the air and I only managed eighth.” The World Championship points table shows Gabor Talmacsi, who finished fifth here, heading the proceedings with 56 points, Faubel second on 47, Lukas Pesek (Gilera) with 46 and Corsi fourth on 36 after three races. Honda rider quotes GP Turkey April 22, 2007. MotoGP. Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 2nd. “It was like a 125 race with some unbelievable passes. I concentrated on getting a perfect start and made as many passes as I could on the opening laps but I got stuck behind Hopkins for too long. Once I got past him my pace was good and I was also able to take Rossi. I couldn’t challenge for the lead because Casey was so fast so I decided to focus on maintaining my position. I have to thank the team and Bridgestone for the faith they have shown in me. I feel mature and confident because I still think we can improve even more.” Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: 5th.”I got a good start but I also lost a lot of time behind Hopkins because he was braking on the limit. I had a good pace and was able to fight for the podium with Capirossi and Barros but the bike started to vibrate and that slowed me down. I have to thank the team because they’ve done a great job and so have Bridgestone – the tyres were fantastic today.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 7th. “My start was pretty decent and I made a couple of passes in turn four on the first lap. For a while I was enjoying the battle, dicing with a few guys and having a bit of fun and at the end of the race, with four or five laps to go I was thinking ‘you know what, I’m going to be able to steal a podium here’. But after about half race distance I was having real trouble getting through the fast right-hander at turn 14. Early in the race it was my best corner, but at other parts of the track I was braking so deep to make up time that I used up the front tyre a little bit. At the end, and I know it’s a pretty weak excuse, but I just couldn’t get through that right-hander. That affected my acceleration up that hill and I started losing positions. On the last lap I gave it one last go through there to try to be close on the brakes to let me try to do something down at the hairpin, but when I got in there I just pushed the front to the edge of the track and had a big moment – I barely stayed on. It’s another seventh place and I know people will still be on my case about it, but the truth is the team worked really hard this weekend and I rode as hard as I could for 22 laps. I don’t’ want to play the ‘first Michelin’ card because my tyres were pretty good. The rear was really consistent, though I had some issues with the front. I really would have loved to give the team a better result this weekend but we’ve got a test here tomorrow and we’ll look to get a few things straightened out.” Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 12th. “That was a very difficult race, much worse than I anticipated. I did not have a good feeling from the engine or front-end stability, especially in the fast, fifth gear corner. I almost crashed a couple of times it was quite scary. From then I just decided to finish the race with no risks, I was suffering with tyre grip, engine speed and chassis balance which was much better in practice. We need to analyse these problems and move forward to the China race.” Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda: 13th. “My start was okay, but when the big accident happened I was trying to avoid getting caught up in it and then lost 10th place. I knew it was going to be a hard race from then on. We suffered again from a lack of feeling from the front-end of the bike, but at least we did get some points and that was one of my targets from this weekend, which is one of the first races in a long season. Our problems have come from a combination of things, but I know Honda and Michelin will work hard together with our team and we’re hopeful of better results in later races.” Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR212V: 16th.”It felt like the rear tyre went flat. It didn’t feel right on the sighting lap. I thought it might come in, but it never did. I thought it was flat and I was kind of nervous about what the problem might be; because when they’re not the right pressure and have that type of feeling you can’t be careful enough. Around the last five laps I also seemed to pick up a vibration, not sure if the two things are related or not but the guys will check it out.” Chuck Aksland: Team Manager. “Obviously there was a problem from the beginning of the race. Watching his lap times it’s quite unusual to be so far off the pace at the beginning. It looks to be some issue with the back tyre. We checked the pressure on the grid as usual, and it was normal, but obviously it didn’t feel right for him. Michelin are checking it out so we’ll wait to see what they find out.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: dnf. “It’s a shame about the crash today because I think I had a chance of a good result here – it seems that this track is not so lucky for me! My start was no so good and I had some wheelspin off the line which meant I dropped back and was in a large group of riders on the first lap. Then when I was braking into the final tight section of the track I was hit on the inside and went down. I have some pain in my chest and neck so I won’t be testing tomorrow, but I should be ok to race in China.” 250cc: Andrea Dovizioso, Scot Honda: 1st. “I am happy of course it was a difficult race. I got a good start. I was fast for the whole race distance but in the closing laps I was not sure I would be able to pass Lorenzo. When he blocked my racing line on the last lap I stayed on the inside and out braked him to take the win. This victory was very important for us regarding the championship. Now we have to continue in the same way.” Julian Simon, Repsol Honda: 7th. “The race was good because I managed to finish, which was our aim after the race in Jerez. But it could have been much better if I wouldn’t have spoiled the start. There’s clearly a problem, I don’t know whether I cannot concentrate or I loose concentration because of the noise of the other bikes and cannot make a good start. In any case, we cannot ruin more races because of that. We’ll try to find the problem and solve it for the race in China. As regards today’s race, the bike worked well, although we continue having some problems we haven’t been able to solve during the weekend.” Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT-SAG: 15th. “I’m happy with this result as I remained in the top 15 all race long. This race will be a good reference for us as I never rode here before this Grand Prix and I was still uncomfortable in various sections of the track. It’s a shame I couldn’t follow Heidolf and Baldolini to attempt a move in the last lap, but I’m satisfied, we’re making good progress with the team and things are going well.” Shuhei Aoyama, Repsol Honda: 16th. “The first thing I have to do is to apologise to my team because I made a serious mistake at the start. After the passing through the pit lane to serve the penalty, I tried to finish and score some points, but I haven’t been able to. Moreover, my left shoulder is still hurting after yesterday’s crash and that conditioned me during the race because I wasn’t able to lean well when braking; it hurt really bad when I entered the corners too fast. In any case, I’ll have to improve a lot in the next race to offer a good result to the whole team.” Eugene Laverty, LCR Honda: 17th.”My rear tyre had no grip from about lap nine, and I thought about stopping, it was scary at the end. We took a gamble on the tyre choice, I only did two laps in the warm-up on this tyre, and sometimes these gambles do not pay-off. I could have scored points today.” Yukio Takahashi, Scot Honda: dnf. “I made a good start, I was beyond the leader group and when I was into the turn another rider touched me and put me out. At that moment I didn’t understand who the rider was. What pity, I’m sorry to finish the race in that way!” 125cc. Bradley Smith, Repsol Honda: 8th. “Last night we worked a little on the gearbox, a little on engine and suspension and a little on me, everything together added up to 0.5 seconds a lap. In the warm up and the race. I got an average start but got back what I lost. I was at the front of the second group and for once we were smart and stayed in line, not slowing each other by passing and re-passing. I was surprised when Zanetti passed me from the slipstream but he quickly pulled in behind me and we started to close the gap on the leaders. I was up to sixth and could see a possible podium place but at the last corner Koyama san touched Talmacsi and he went across the front of me. I thought about passing him on the inside but maybe the riders behind would have been in my way so I went outside and hit the kerb and was up in the air and I only managed to finish eighth.” Tito Rabat, Repsol Honda: 14th. “I got a good start and tried to follow the group ahead of me but it proved impossible for me. We had many problems in practice with the chassis and suspension set up. It is my first race at this track and I had to learn the best lines but because of set up I could not hold the ideal fast line. I fought hard to pass all the riders in my group but it didn’t work out and I ended up 14th. I’m not so happy with my result.” Joey Litjens, Molenaar Honda: 20th. “My race was good and I ran a constant pace. The bike was good and I could stay in the slipstream on the straight. My front tyre was really good but the rear went off but it was same for all of us.” Kevin Coghlan replacement rider for Mike Di Meglio, Scot Honda: 21st. “I had a good start, I’m quite satisfy about my first World performance. I tried to go fast and I recovered 6 positions from the start. In this week-end we worked a lot and we also improved a lot, I’m very happy about this experience and I want to thanks the team for the opportunity they give me.” Danny Webb, Molenaar Honda: 23rd. “Its good that I finished the race after my two disappointing results in the first two races. My start was good and I was with the group behind Joey (Litjens). A couple of riders passed me and it was difficult to repass them and I took a few laps to do it. Then I made a couple of small mistakes but held on to my place. But by then I had lost contact with Joey’s group. The bike was good today but we were running the same times as the group ahead so we were not going to catch them. Still I enjoyed it and I finished.” Dino Lombardi, Scot Honda: dnf. “I’m reall disheartened. Lap by lap I was going slower and after 10 laps I came back because after a very bad start I wasn’t able to get a well pace. It’s from yesterday that I’m not in perfect fit, I don’t know what’s happening to me.” Alexis Masbou, FFM Honda: dnf. “My start was OK but in the first lap it was rough out on the track with the other riders and I lost a few positions. The first half of the race was correct since I managed to move up to 13th after passing Rabat, Ranseder and Krummenacher and my lap times were competitive. Unfortunately my rear tyre started to wear out. Maybe we didn¹t work enough on suspension settings during practice. Anyway I couldn¹t manage the rear end anymore. My opponents passed me one after the other and then I had a bigger slide than usual at the end of the straight and crashed. I¹m not hurt but the morale could be better.”
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