MotoGP – The Turkish Grand Prix turn-based –

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The Turkish Grand Prix turn by turn

MotoGP - The Turkish Grand Prix turn-based -

Istanbul, Turkey, third round of MotoGP 2007: 40,052 spectators wait to see if Melandri will win for the third time in three years on the superb Turkish course … But others are hungry, very hungry: exclusive lap by lap global !

Istanbul: first unknown of the season in MotoGP, since no test has been done in Turkey (read), unlike Jerez and Losail (read our).

On the Istanbul track, demanding for machines and tires, the regulations which limit the number of rubber tires can have a big influence. Thus, Rossi believes that "It is only now that the championship starts for good, because the races will be linked"after a break of almost four weeks since the Jerez GP.

Le Dottore also believes that "we cannot yet distinguish a hierarchy after only two races", although he admits that Stoner"pilot even better here than in Qatar"… Intox to Pedrosa by the gang ?

Anyway, it is Marco Melandri who, alone, occupies for the moment the top of the sheet of Istanbul Park having won the first two editions. But as for Capirossi and Hayden, the start of the season is not easy for Super Marco…

The 5,340m of the Turkish circuit, with its eight left turns, six right turns and 720m straight, is very comprehensive and should tell us a little more about the influence of the new tire regulations. The last six MotoGP races have seen six different winners, proof that the category remains hotly contested: will Rossi interrupt this series ?

125

Friday morning, Bradley Smith opens hostilities by dominating the first free session in front of Talmacsi, Corsi, Zanetti, De Rosa, Faubel, Pasini, Ranseder, Gadea and Rabat.

Alexis Masbou is 18th time and Mike Di Meglio, recovering, is still absent.

In the afternoon, the first qualifying session was won by Mattia Pasini with 0.2 s lead over Talmacsi, 0.6 s over Koyama and 0.7 s over Corsi. Follow Pesek, Gadea, Cortese, Iannone, Faubel, Smith, Olive, Terol, Bianco and Masbou.

Saturday morning, Pasini dominates again and precedes Faubel, Corsi, Gadea, Olive, Koyama, Smith, Ranseder, Pesek, De Rosa, Iannone, Cortese, Zanetti, Talmacsi and Masbou again 15th.

The afternoon defines the starting grid: Pasini takes pole 0.2 s ahead of Faubel, 0.5 s ahead of Corsi and 0.6 s ahead of Talmacsi. In the 2nd row, Pesek is at 0.6s, Koyama at 0.7s, Olive at 1s and Ranseder at 1.3s. The 3rd row is formed by Terol, Cortese, De Rosa and Nieto, between 1.4 s and 1.6 s from pole. Smith, Zanetti, Krummenacher and Iannone are in 4th place, between 1.6s and 2.1s behind Pasini. Masbou qualifies 18th at 2.5 s.

In the warm-up, Faubel was the fastest: 0.25 s ahead of Koyama and Talmacsi, 0.7 s in front of Smith, 0.8 s in front of Corsi and Nieto, 0.9 s in front of Olive and 1.1 s in front of Pasini, the poleman! Follow De Rosa, Ranseder, Krummenacher, Pesek, Cortese, Terol and Masbou again 15th.

Departure. Just before the start, Pasini stalls: he has to restart his machine but manages not to miss the green light. Corsi takes the best start ahead of Faubel and Pasini. The three men dive together into the first straight and are already well ahead of Talmacsi, Pesek, Terol, De Rosa, Koyama and Nieto. Pasini passes 21st at the entrance of the 2nd corner, then hangs his head at the entrance of the 3rd.

When braking the right downhill, Faubel comes up to Corsi, Talmacsi comes inside his teammate and Talmacsi comes out second ahead of Faubel and Corsi! Masbou is 18th. Pasini took advantage of the fight behind him to take a small lead. Olive passed 9th ahead of Nieto. Faubel came back to 2nd in front of Talmacsi when braking in the chicane.

In the first lap, Pasini leads ahead of Faubel, Talmacsi, Corsi, Pesek, De Rosa, Koyama and Terol who has passed Olive. Masbou is 15th. Faubel came back on Pasini and passed him for the lead. Faubel, Pasini and Talmacsi are a few steps ahead of Corsi, Pesek and De Rosa, then lonely Koyama has left Olive behind again in front of Terol. At the entrance to the chicane, Corsi surprises Talmacsi and goes back to 3rd.

On the second lap, Faubel leads in front of Pasini, Corsi, Talmacsi, De Rosa, who took the best lap, overtaking Pesek, then Olive who leads the second group. Steve Bonsey, the American, falls with his KTM. Pasini takes the lead again under braking at the end of the straight line. Talmacsi came back to 3rd in front of Corsi when braking from the right from the back. Pasini made the forcing to escape and took a few lengths on Faubel. When braking in the chicane, Corsi came back to 3rd in front of Talmacsi.

On the 3rd lap, Pasini leads 0.4 s ahead of Faubel, Corsi, Talmacsi, De Rosa, Pesek and Koyama who are wheel to wheel. Olive left the group of pursuers behind and made an effort to try to get back 1.3s behind Koyama. A trio of Terol, Nieto and Smith follows. Masbou is still 15th. Talmacsi returns in force in front of Corsi at the entrance to the left triple. At the exit of the fastest right, Pasini stops on the edge of the track, gets out of his machine, seems to tinker with his selector and sets off again at the bottom of the pack! At the entrance of the triple chicane, De Rosa passes Corsi who resists and comes back up to De Rosa: contact between the two bikes, then Corsi comes out third! Hot !

On the 4th lap, Faubel leads in front of Talmacsi, Corsi, De Rosa, Koyama and Pesek, then Olive who comes back taking advantage of Pasini’s misadventure which disturbed the leading group. Behind him, Terol and Smith distance Nieto. Masbou is 14th. At the entrance on the left downhill, Koyama passes 5th in front of De Rosa. Smith passed 8th in front of Terol.

On the 5th lap, Faubel leads ahead of Talmacsi, Koyama, Corsi, Pesek and De Rosa. Olive almost returned with the group of leaders ahead of Smith and then Iannone who passed Terol. Masbou is 14th and Pasini, started again in the race, 29th! Gadea, teammate of Faubel and Talmacsi, is 20th, visibly in trouble. Corsi returned to 3rd in front of Koyama when braking in the chicane. Masbou passed 13th in front of Rabat. When braking at the entrance to the triple finish chicane, Corsi passes 2nd in front of Talmacsi.

At the 6th passage, Faubel leads in front of Corsi, Talmacsi, Koyama, De Rosa, Pesek and Olive. 5.9 s behind the leader, Smith leads Terol and Iannone. Masbou is 13th. Corsi takes the lead in front of Faubel under braking on the left downhill. Talmacsi takes advantage of his surprise to pass 2nd in front of Faubel in the right which follows, but Faubel returns to 2nd in the following turn.

On the 7th lap, Corsi leads with a few lengths ahead of Faubel, Talmacsi, Koyama, De Rosa, Olive and Pesek. Terol moved back to 8th in front of Smith and returned to the leading group. Pasini comes back 25th. Cortese falls and gives up. De Rosa attacks and passes in force in front of Koyama in the fastest right. In the descent, De Rosa comes up to Faubel and Talmacsi, Koyama goes inside them and Olive, inside all of them, suddenly jumps from 6th to 2nd position! Koyama passes 3rd but Talmacsi reacts in the seesaw to the left of the arrival triple: fairing against fairing with Koyama who resists, he plunges 3rd in the finish line !

At the 8th passage, Corsi leads ahead of Olive, Koyama, Talmacsi, Faubel, De Rosa and Pesek. Behind them, it is again Smith who leads the chase ahead of Iannone and Zanetti. Faubel came back to 4th in front of Talmacsi when braking on the left. De Rosa takes the opportunity to also switch to Hungarian in the following sequence. Corsi took full advantage of the fight behind him with more than a second ahead of Olive, who took a few lengths over Koyama. Olive makes the effort to come back and brings Koyama and the lead group behind him..

On the 9th lap, Corsi leads in front of Olive who has almost returned to his wheel, then Koyama, Faubel, De Rosa, Talmacsi, Pesek. Smith, Iannone and Zanetti are always nibbling away little by little. Masbou is 15th, Pasini 21st. Talmacsi returns to 5th in front of De Rosa at the entrance to the back right: the group of leaders is now reformed. De Rosa returned to 5th in front of Talmacsi thanks to a better exit from the fastest right. Olive takes the lead under braking in the triple chicane, but clever Corsi dives inside in the last part on the left and takes back the lead.

At the 10th passage, Corsi leads ahead of Olive, Koyama, Faubel, De Rosa, Talmacsi and Pesek. Smith, Zanetti and Iannone are 4 seconds behind the Czech. At the end of the straight line, Faubel with superb braking regained 3rd position at Koyama. Olive takes the lead when braking the right before the descent. Corsi also doubled in this corner and took 4th place in Koyama. When braking at the bottom of the next descent, Olive takes the lead in front of Corsi, then Faubel passes Koyama and Corsi to come back to 3rd. Talmacsi passed 5th in front of Koyama at the entrance to the chicane. In the very fast right, Corsi made the inside to Faubel and came back to 3rd. In the last part of the triple finish, Corsi returns as he had done on the previous lap. De Rosa, better off, sucks Olive and passes it.

On the 11th lap, Corsi leads in front of Rosa, Olive, Faubel in full aspiration which carries up to him, then Talmacsi, Koyama and Pesek. Smith, Zanetti and Iannone are only 3.7 s behind Pesek! Faubel takes advantage of the aspiration and passes 2nd. Olive delays his braking and follows him in 3rd position and Koyama passes in force inside De Rosa. Espargaro and Krummenacher passed Masbou who is only 17th. Pasini is 19th. De Rosa attacks and passes 3rd in front of Koyama who had just attacked and passed Olive.

At the bottom of the descent, Faubel attacks and passes De Rosa under braking. De Rosa tries the outside on Faubel in the fastest right, goes out on the vibrator and narrowly passes 2nd! Faubel from the outside delays his braking, takes the advantage over De Rosa, but Koyama and Olive have come inside and both pass De Rosa … who returns to the inside by tipping in the right of the triple. . but Olive goes back inside again in the last part on the right which commands the finish straight !

At the 12th passage, Corsi leads past Faubel, Koyama, Olive, De Rosa, Talmacsi and Pesek. Smith and Zanetti, who slightly left Iannone, take advantage of the fight in front of them and are only 2.5 seconds behind the leading group! Olive passed 3rd in front of Koyama then, in the process, 2nd in front of Faubel. Olive and Faubel then pass in front of Corsi, then Koyama passes De Rosa who plunges in front of him in the final triple chicane.

On the 13th lap, Olive leads ahead of Faubel, Corsi, De Rosa, Koyama, Talmacsi and Pesek. Smith and Zanetti are 1.8 seconds away from the Czech! Masbou falls and gives up … Olive makes the effort and tries to outrun Faubel from whom he took a few lengths. De Rosa dives inside Faubel and passes him to the faster right. Corsi tries to force through the braking of the triple finish, but De Rosa resists fairing against fairing. Corsi dives inside De Rosa in the last left of the triple and starts the straight line in 3rd position.

At the 14th passage, Olive leads past Faubel, Corsi, De Rosa, Koyama, Talmacsi and Pesek. Smith and Zanetti are still racing to come back and are 1.6s behind Pesek. Olive, in the lead, 0.5 s ahead of Faubel. In the fast straight, Corsi decidedly very comfortable in this part returned to 2nd in front of Faubel. But the Spaniard comes back under braking in the triple, deviates and Corsi returns by diving into the right of this triple chicane! In the last part, Pesek – who had already passed Talmacsi – dives under Koyama’s wheel and passes 5th.

On the 15th lap, Olive leads ahead of Corsi, Faubel, De Rosa, Pesek, Koyama and Talmacsi. Smith and Zanetti are 1.3 seconds away from the Hungarian. Koyama passes Pesek back under braking from the left at the end of the straight line. On leaving the chicane, De Rosa tilts under the wheels of Faubel who resists, stays outside, touches De Rosa’s fairing and is ejected beyond the vibrator! Faubel returns to the track, but last in the leading group … Meanwhile, Corsi makes the effort, distances the group and returns to Olive.

When entering the triple, Koyama applied the brakes to De Rosa and returned to 3rd. Talmacsi does the same on Pesek behind them. Faubel has redone the junction. Smith and Zanetti are almost back in the wheel of the Spanish.

On the 16th lap, Olive and Corsi back on his wheel were 1.4 s ahead of Koyama, De Rosa, Talmacsi, Pesek and Faubel who were only 0.6 s ahead of Smith and Zanetti. Pasini came back 17th and Gadea was forced to retire. Talmacsi passed 4th ahead of De Rosa. Pesek also passes De Rosa brilliantly inside in the left triple.

At the bottom of the descent which commands the triple, De Rosa passes 4th in front of Talmacsi under braking, misses at the entrance and has to let the Hungarian pass again. Smith returned to Faubel’s wheel, which forced its way inside Pesek in the final part of the treble..

On the 17th lap, Olive and Corsi are 1.5 s ahead of Koyama, Talmacsi, De Rosa, Faubel, Pesek, Smith and Zanetti. Smith passed 7th in front of Pesek on braking at the end of the straight line. Behind Olive and Corsi, Koyama, Talmacsi and De Rosa have taken a few steps ahead of Faubel, Smith, Pesek and Zanetti. Smith passes Faubel in the right before the left triple. De Rosa passed Talmacsi on braking for the triple but moved away and had to let the Hungarian pass again. Smith takes advantage of the fight to redo the connection by bringing back Faubel, Pesek and Zanetti.

At the start of the last lap, Olive and Corsi are 1.7 s ahead of Koyama, Talmacsi, De Rosa, Smith, Faubel and Zanetti who passed Pesek. Pasini who came back like a bullet to the point of 15th place is forced to retire: the bad luck continues for the Italian…

In the descent that commands the tight right, Talmacsi, De Rosa and Koyama come head-to-head! Talmacsi wins in front of De Rosa … and Smith throws himself into a mouse hole to pass Koyama! De Rosa immediately passed Talmacsi, who turned around on exiting the bend. Corsi takes the lead outside the straight ahead of the fastest straight! Olive regains the advantage in the descent, enters the lead in the triple, but Corsi places himself in the right part and switches inside in front of Olive to start the straight line !

Behind them, the fight also ended in the triple right, with Koyama who passed De Rosa and Talmacsi, then Pesek and Zanetti who passed Smith again deprived of the benefits of his superb comeback … Iannone returned in the final even nabbed in Faubel the 9th place in this last triple !

Corsi therefore won his first victory for his 64th Grand Prix ahead of Olive 2nd and Koyama 3rd who completed this podium of furious! De Rosa finished 4th, Talmacsi 5th, Pesek 6th, Zanetti 7th, Smith 8th, Iannone 9th, Faubel 10th, Espargaro 11th, Ranseder 12th, Nieto 13th, Rabat 14th and Krummenacher takes the point of 15th place.

In the championship, Talmacsi does the right thing and leads with 56 points ahead of Faubel 47, Pesek 46, Corsi 36, Olive 33, Espargaro 27, Koyama and De Rosa 26, Nieto 20, Zanetti 15 and Ranseder 14. Masbou and Di Meglio remain with their points obtained in Qatar, respectively 6 and 2…

In terms of brands, Aprilia leads with 75 points ahead of Derbi 46, KTM 29 and Honda 16.

250

From Friday morning, Lorenzo won the best time ahead of Dovizioso, Bautista, De Angelis, Luthi, Simon, S. Aoyama, Simoncelli, Takahashi and Kallio. Jules Cluzel is 22nd.

In the afternoon, while Lorenzo dominated, Dovizioso then Bautista, with hundredths, take the provisional pole on their last lap. De Angelis 4th at 0.2 s, then Simon, Kallio and Barbera at 0.5 s and H. Aoyama at 0.7 s. Takahashi is 1 s, then come S. Aoyama, Simoncelli and Luthi. Cluzel is again 22nd.

On Saturday morning, Lorenzo takes the lead again ahead of Bautista, Dovizioso, Simon, Luthi, Barbera, H. Aoyama, Takahashi, Kallio, De Angelis, S. Aoyama and Simoncelli. Cluzel is 23rd.

In the afternoon, Dovizioso takes pole, less than a tenth ahead of Lorenzo but 0.9 s ahead of Bautista and 1 s ahead of De Angelis! In 2nd row, Simoncelli, Luthi, Kallio and Simon are grouped between 1 s and 1.1 s of the Italian. In the 3rd row, H. Aoyama, Barbera, Takahashi and S. Aoyama are between 1.2 s and 1.6 s from the pole. In 4th row, West, Lai, Espargaro and Cluzel are between 2 and 3 s behind Dovizioso. Nice qualification for Cluzel, 16th after very delicate tests…

In the warm up, Dovizioso dominates ahead of De Angelis, Lorenzo, Barbera, Bautista, Simon, Kallio, West, Luthi, Takahashi, Espargaro, H. Aoyama, Simoncelli, S. Aoyama, Lai and Cluzel 16th.

Departure. Dovizioso took the best start and quickly moved away a few lengths on Simoncelli, Bautista, Luthi, De Angelis and Lorenzo. Bautista and Luthi pass Simoncelli at the entrance to the chicane and Lorenzo passes De Angelis who stays outside and ends up plunging in front in the left which commands the descent. Cluzel, who had an exceptional start, is 9th but makes a mistake while trying to attack Takahashi under braking: by hitting him, he loses 20 seconds…

At the bottom, Luthi passes 2nd in front of Bautista while Lorenzo and De Angelis pass Simoncelli. Hiroshi Aoyama fell from the front to the right and started again in the race last. At the exit from the left, Luthi exits beyond the vibrator, keeps the acceleration but loses speed and must let Bautista and Lorenzo pass. Simoncelli also leaves behind the vibrator in the fast right.

In the first lap, Dovizioso was 1.6 s ahead of Bautista, Lorenzo, Luthi and De Angelis, then 0.6 s more Kallio himself 0.9 s over Simoncelli who downgraded enormously after his very good start. Espargaro, West, Simon, S. Aoyama, Lai, Wilairot the Thai, Abraham and Baldolini follow. Cluzel is 22nd. Takahashi enters the pits. In the lead, Bautista made the effort and slightly distances Lorenzo, Luthi and De Angelis while trying to get back on Dovizioso.

On the second lap, Dovizioso was 0.9 s ahead of Bautista, who had the fastest lap, then Lorenzo, Luthi and De Angelis, Kallio then Simoncelli. West falls after being passed by Barbera.

On the 3rd lap, Dovizioso leads in front of Bautista who almost made the junction, then Lorenzo, Luthi and De Angelis, then Kallio 2.1 s behind this group and 1.1 s ahead of Simoncelli and Simon, who lead S. Aoyama by 1.9 s. S. Aoyama and Espargaro get a "ride through" for flying start. At the exit of the fast right, Bautista stuck to Dovizioso’s wheel overflows him in the stretch which precedes the braking of the finish triple.

On the 4th lap, Bautista and Dovizioso were 0.6 s ahead of Lorenzo, Luthi and De Angelis. Kallio follows, then Simoncelli and Simon. At the entrance to the chicane, De Angelis attacks and passes Luthi. It’s Sekiguchi’s turn to fall.

In the 5th lap, Bautista, who had the fastest lap, took a few steps ahead of Dovizioso. Lorenzo is 0.9s behind the leader with De Angelis and Luthi in his wheel. Kallio is at 6 s, Simoncelli and Simon at 7 s. De Angelis passed 3rd in front of Lorenzo on braking at the bottom of the descent, but Lorenzo returned to the fast right, then De Angelis who did not let himself be counted on braking at the entrance to the triple chicane.

On lap 6, Bautista was 0.4 s ahead of Dovizioso, 1.7 s over De Angelis, Lorenzo and Luthi, 7.5 s over Kallio and 8.7 s over Simon who passed Simoncelli. H. Aoyama started again in the race is penultimate at 42 s and Cluzel last at 1’11 … Dovizioso made the effort and gradually came back to Bautista. When entering the triple finish, Dovizioso is in the wheel of Bautista. Behind them, Lorenzo recovered 3rd place under braking ahead of De Angelis. Cluzel returns to the pits, victim of a brake problem following his contact with Takahashi.

On the 7th lap, Bautista and Dovizioso were 1.7 s ahead of Lorenzo, De Angelis and Luthi. Kallio, at 8.5 s, lost ground on Simon who came back less than a second from the Finn, releasing Simoncelli. Luthi struggles to keep up with the pace set by Lorenzo (author of the fastest lap) and De Angelis to try to get back on the two leaders. Simoncelli falls from the front under braking in the triple final, and starts again in 14th position.

On the 8th lap, Bautista and Dovizioso were 1.6 s ahead of Lorenzo, 1.9 s over De Angelis who was hanging on, 2.7 s over Luthi who won, 9.7 s over Kallio, 10.3 s over Simon and 8 s in front of Barbera. Lorenzo continues his effort and gradually nibbles his delay.

On lap 9, Bautista and Dovizioso stuck to his wheel were only 1.3 seconds ahead of Lorenzo, who had another fastest lap, but still 1.9 seconds on De Angelis and 3 full seconds on Luthi. Toth the Hungarian also falls. De Angelis makes the effort and returns to Lorenzo. Simon has returned to Kallio’s wheel. At the entrance of the triple, Dovizioso takes back the lead in front of Bautista.

On lap 10, Dovizioso leads ahead of Bautista, 1.1 seconds ahead of Lorenzo, 1.7 seconds ahead of De Angelis and 3.5 seconds ahead of Luthi. Dovizioso, Bautista in his wheel, tries to outrun Lorenzo again.

On lap 11, Dovizioso and Bautista stabilized their lead over Lorenzo. De Angelis is now 2.1 s behind the leader. Luthi is at 4.5 seconds, then more than 12 seconds, Kallio is still standing up to Simon, who is glued to his wheel. In the descent which precedes the chicane, Bautista comes up to Dovizioso, overtakes him, but the Italian delays his braking and retains the advantage! At the exit of the fast right, Bautista comes out better than Dovizioso, overwhelms him and enters the lead in the triple final while Lorenzo took advantage of the fight between the two men to get back practically in their wheels.

On lap 12, Bautista led ahead of Dovizioso and Lorenzo, who had another fastest lap, then De Angelis was still 1.7 seconds behind the leader and Luthi was now 5.1 seconds behind. Kallio and Simon always follow in that order. At the bottom of the descent that commands the triple chicane, Lorenzo sets off tremendous braking and suddenly passes Dovizioso and Bautista to take the lead! Dovizioso takes the opportunity to infiltrate a mouse hole in front of Bautista and collides with Lorenzo who was looking for his trajectory !

13th lap, the three pilots who remained on their wheels were glued to each other. In the straight line, Bautista took advantage of a better exit to pass Dovizioso but the Italian delayed his braking at the end of the straight line and returned to 2nd! De Angelis took advantage of the fight to come back 1.3 seconds behind the leader. Luthi consolidates his 4th place and Kallio still resists Simon.

At the 14th lap, Lorenzo, Dovizioso (author of the fastest lap) and Bautista are only 1.4 s ahead of De Angelis who does not let go … Behind Luthi 4th, Simon finally managed to take 6th place from Kallio . At the entrance to the triple, Bautista who arrived very hard on Dovizioso is forced to move aside to avoid hitting him and loses contact.

In the 15th lap, Lorenzo and Dovizioso suddenly took 0.8 s ahead of Bautista who has only 0.6 s of margin over De Angelis. Luthi is 4th, then Simon sees Kallio clinging to his wheel. De Angelis came back to Bautista’s wheel at mid-circuit. In the fast right, Lorenzo made a very small error in the trajectory and lost a little speed: Dovizioso immediately took the opportunity to reach his height, delay his braking and enter the lead in the triple chicane. !

On lap 16, Dovizioso and Lorenzo were 1.1 s ahead of Bautista and De Angelis. Dovizioso is forcing himself to try to let go of Lorenzo. In the triple left, Lorenzo deviated slightly from the trajectory and lost a few lengths on Dovizioso. When braking the treble, Lorenzo practically came back into Dovizioso’s wheel. Behind them, Bautista lets go of De Angelis again, trying to get back on the two leaders.

In the 17th lap, Dovizioso and Lorenzo were 0.9 s ahead of Bautista and 1.3 s over De Angelis. Luthi is at 13.8 s, Simon and Kallio at 19.5 s, Barbera at 38.4 s and Lai at 51.5 s. After his crash, Simoncelli came back 10th at 52.4 s! When braking in the chicane, Lorenzo took the lead in front of Dovizioso but the Italian, better placed, got out faster and returned to Lorenzo, not without the two fairings rubbing against each other! In the descent which precedes the triple, Lorenzo passes by again taking advantage of the aspiration and Bautista, returned from the devil vauvert, plants an anthological braking which propels him in 2nd position in front of Dovizioso !

On the 18th lap, Lorenzo leads ahead of Bautista and Dovizioso. De Angelis is only 1.1s behind the leader and 0.6s behind Honda n ° 34! At the end of the lap, In the last seesaw to enter the straight line, Dovizioso with a master throttle comes inside Bautista and returns to 2nd !

At the start of the last lap, Lorenzo was a quarter of a second ahead of Dovizioso and Bautista and 2.7 seconds over De Angelis who had completely let go, probably betrayed by his tires. Dovizioso made the effort to catch up with Lorenzo, slightly behind Bautista and came back to Lorenzo’s wheel at mid-circuit. Entering the right from the back, Dovizioso loses grip when accelerating, fails to stall, widens to recover and again loses a few lengths on Lorenzo.

But the Italian achieves a legendary triple left: having reached the end of the fast right in the aspiration of the Spaniard, he delays his braking, overflows Lorenzo in sliding and enters the lead in the triple final! Lorenzo tries to get back on the outside to take advantage of Dovizioso’s gap after his hard braking, but the Italian returns to his path, closes the door to the Spaniard, switches to the lead in the right, slips from behind but manages to close the door again by diving into the last left! Bautista goes inside in front of Lorenzo, comes out too wide and Lorenzo comes back to 2nd at the start of the straight line…

But Dovizioso retains the advantage and wins in a very good way ahead of Lorenzo and Bautista who complete a well-deserved podium !

De Angelis finished 4th, Luthi 5th, Kallio 6th, Simon 7th, Barbera 8th, Simoncelli 9th, Lai 10th, Espargaro 11th, Abraham 12th, Heidolf 13th, Ballerini 14th and the Thai Wilairot won the point of 15th place.

In the championship, Lorenzo leads with 70 points ahead of Dovizioso 52, De Angelis 46, Bautista 36, ​​Barbera and Luthi 24, Simon and Takahashi 17, S. Aoyama and Lai 15 and Simoncelli 14.

In terms of brands, Aprilia leads with 70 points ahead of Honda 52, KTM 20 and Gilera 17.

MotoGP

Friday morning, during the first free session, Colin Edwards was the fastest ahead of Vermeulen, Hopkins, Pedrosa, Hofmann, Melandri, Jacque, Capirossi, Nakano, Guintoli, Hayden, Barros, Stoner, Checa, Elias and Tamada. Rossi, only 17th, ahead of only De Puniet and Roberts !

In the afternoon, Stoner won the best time of the second free session ahead of Capirossi, Hopkins, Rossi, Elias, Jacque, Vermeulen, Hofmann, Pedrosa, Melandri, Roberts, De Puniet, Barros, Hayden, Edwards, Checa, Tamada, Nakano and Guintoli.

Saturday morning, the third free session was won by Stoner ahead of Rossi, Elias, Pedrosa, Edwards, Vermeulen, Hopkins, Capirossi, Jacque, De Puniet, Barros, Tamada, Hofmann, Melandri, Guintoli, Checa, Hayden, Nakano and Roberts.

The qualifying session in the afternoon saw Rossi take pole 0.15 s ahead of his teammate Edwards and 0.17 s ahead of Pedrosa. In the 2nd row, Stoner is at 0.5 s, Capirossi at 0.7 s and Hayden at 0.8 s. Hopkins at 0.8 s, De Puniet and Vermeulen at 0.9 s form the 3rd row while Elias, Jacque and Nakano form the 4th row between 1 and 1.1 s from pole. In 5th place, Barros, Melandri and Tamada are between 1.2s and 1.4s behind Rossi while in 6th, Checa, Hofmann and Roberts have between 1.4s and 1.7s of deficit. Finally Guintoli, 17th at 2s, closes the third tightest grid in MotoGP history…

In the warm up, Stoner is the fastest ahead of Elias, Capirossi, Vermeulen, Hopkins, Pedrosa, De Puniet, Edwards, Rossi, Barros, Hayden, Tamada, Melandri, Jacque, Checa, Hofmann, Roberts, Guintoli and Nakano.

Departure. Rossi and Edwards take the advantage ahead of Stoner, Capirossi, Elias, Hayden, Hopkins, Pedrosa, Barros, Vermeulen, Jacque, De Puniet, Nakano and Guintoli. Hayden and Hopkins pass Elias. Stoner passes Edwards in the lower right: he forces the Texan to move away and Capirossi also takes the opportunity to pass the Yamaha n ° 5. Hopkins passes 5th in front of Hayden.

At the exit of the fast right, Rossi goes out beyond the vibrator and must let Stoner and Capirossi pass, then Hopkins and Elias, Hayden even coming to tickle him at the entrance to the left of the chicane….

Behind them, Jacque, a little optimistic when braking, misses himself, catches Pedrosa’s front wheel, which throws him on Edwards who falls, then the distressed Kawa mows down Vermeulen! Guintoli manages to avoid the worst by making the grand tour inside the gravel before returning to the race. Vermeulen manages to start the race again, his bike less damaged than that of the others…

Edwards limps, Pedrosa gets up but has to sit down to wait for help and Jacque seems more severely affected. He is conscious, but hit the asphalt hard on the back and back of his head…

In the first lap, Stoner took off, followed a few lengths from Capirossi then Hopkins, Elias, Rossi, Hayden, Melandri, Barros, De Puniet, Hofmann, Checa and Tamada. Behind Stoner, Capirossi, Hopkins and Elias reconnect but Rossi seems to have more difficulty coming back.

At the second passage, Stoner leads ahead of Capirossi, Hopkins, Elias, Rossi, Hayden, Melandri, Barros and De Puniet. Rossi produces his effort and tries to get back on Elias who made the fastest lap.

In the 3rd lap, Stoner takes more and more lead over Capirossi, Hopkins and Elias. Rossi stays at a distance, then Hayden sees Melandri come back on her heels. Guintoli passes 14th ahead of Roberts.

On the 4th lap, Stoner leads in front of Capirossi, Hopkins, Elias stuck to his wheel and Rossi 5th who sets the fastest lap. Melandri passed 6th ahead of Hayden. Braking the triple, Rossi tries to attack Elias who resists and forces the Italian to move aside and lose some ground. But at the exit of the triple, Elias who had just passed Hopkins in the right part misses, loses speed in the left exit and has to let Hopkins pass again, Rossi taking the opportunity to pass 4th !

In the 5th lap, Stoner was 1 s ahead of Capirossi and 1.7 s over Hopkins, Rossi and Elias. Melandri is at 3.6 s, Hayden at 4.1 s and Barros and De Puniet at 5.5 s. Guintoli is still 14th. Braking the triple, Rossi attacked and passed Hopkins but moved away and had to let the American pass again, dragging Elias to the outside. Rossi comes back, takes the inside of the last left, goes inside Hopkins who tries to resist but goes out on the vibrator and must end up bowing in front of the boss, even losing the acceleration by allowing Elias to pass 4th !

On the 6th lap, Stoner increased his lead to 1.2s over Capirossi, then 2s over Rossi, Elias and Hopkins. Melandri is still 3.6 s behind the leader while Hayden loses a little ground and sees Barros return, then the fastest on the track !

On the 7th lap, Stoner increased his lead to 1.4 s over Rossi but won nothing over Rossi who returned to the Ducati n ° 65, Elias stuck to his wheel … Hopkins seemed to struggle to keep pace and Melandri was only ‘to 0.7 s of the Suzuki. Behind, Hayden sees Barros getting closer and closer and Randy De Puniet 9th tries to take advantage of it to come back too. Vermeulen 16th comes back like a bullet on Roberts by turning in the rhythm of the first.

On the 8th lap, Stoner was 1.6 s ahead of Capirossi, Rossi and Elias returned to the wheel of the 2nd Ducati. Hopkins is 1.2s behind Elias and Melandri is nibbling tenth by tenth. Hayden, who has handed in the coal, keeps Barros at bay. De Puniet 9th still lost a little ground. Rossi passed 2nd in the acceleration from the right which precedes the triple left. Elias, him, passes 3rd in front of Capirossi in the braking of the triple.

p> On the 9th lap, Stoner was 1.9 s ahead of Rossi and Elias, 2.6 s over Capirossi, then Hopkins again accelerated and outdistanced Melandri by approaching Capirossi in his turn. When braking the triple, Elias attacks and passes Rossi who tries to resist but has to give in and even deviates from the trajectory, emptying the left footrest in this somewhat limited maneuver! Rossi manages to recover but has lost contact with Elias and even sees Capirossi coming back to his wheel !

On the 10th lap, Stoner was 2 s ahead of Elias, 3 s over Rossi, Capirossi and Hopkins who came back, 4.7 s over Melandri and Hayden also back in contact with the Italian, 6.6 s over Barros and 7 s over From Puniet. Vermeulen passed 15th ahead of Roberts. Rossi regains a little lead over Capirossi as he tries to catch Elias again.

In the 11th lap, Stoner further increased his lead: 2.3 s on Elias, 3.5 s on Rossi who lost ground, 4.1 s on Capirossi and Hopkins, 4.9 s on Melandri, 5.6 s on Hayden, 6.1 s on Barros, 7.3 s on De Puniet, 10.2 s on Hofmann, 16.7 s on Checa, 20.3 s on Tamada, 22.5 s on Nakano, 23.6 s on Guintoli which comes back on the Japanese, 28.7 s on Vermeulen which turns faster than the five pilots which precede it and 35.9 s on Roberts in distress in 16th place. Barros came back to Hayden’s wheel at the halfway point. At the entrance of the chicane, it was Melandri who came back to Hopkins and Capirossi’s wheel.

On the 12th lap, Stoner further increased his lead. Elias consolidates his 2nd place and Rossi loses ground on the two leaders, but manages to keep Capirossi at bay, followed like his shadow by Hopkins and Melandri. Behind them, Hayden is threatened by Barros, who leads De Puniet by 1.6 s. Braking the triple, Hopkins attacks and passes Capirossi! He forces the Italian to step aside and offer on a plate the opening into which Melandri rushes in force, forcing Capirossi to get up! Behind them, Barros passes Hayden in the same place !

On the 13th lap, Stoner prances ahead while Elias almost keeps pace. Rossi lost 0.5 s per lap on the Australian, then Hopkins and Melandri took a few lengths on Capirossi while Barros saw Hayden hang on to his wheel. At the entrance of the triple, Hopkins and Melandri are blocked by a Rossi visibly in difficulty: Capirossi takes the opportunity to get back in the wheel of his compatriot.

At the 14th passage, behind Stoner and Elias firmly attached to their places, Rossi is directly under the threat of Hopkins and Melandri, then of Capirossi who is not very far, and finally of Barros and Hayden who are only a few lengths…

Hayden took advantage of the fight and the regrouping behind Rossi to pass Barros again, but the Brazilian came back in force before the fast right. When braking the triple, Hopkins then Melandri passed Rossi who had to deviate from the trajectory: Capirossi took advantage by tipping in front of n ° 46 on the last left. Rossi is visibly plagued by a problem with the rear tire, which is badly damaged on the right side…

On the 15th lap, Stoner and Elias consolidated their positions, then it was Hopkins who was third ahead of Melandri, a few lengths ahead of Capirossi. Behind them, Barros passes Rossi accelerating in the straight line !

In four corners, Rossi went from 3rd to 7th place and was threatened by Hayden … Capirossi and Barros made the junction with Hopkins and Melandri. At the end of the fast right, Capirossi settles their account with Hopkins and Melandri with a masterly acceleration and plunges in 3rd position in the triple at the end of the circuit. Nakano and Vermeulen overtook Tamada. Hayden switches to Rossi in the triple.

On lap 16, Stoner was 5 s ahead of Elias, 9 s over Capirossi, 9.2 s over Hopkins, Melandri and Barros, 10.1 s over Hayden and Rossi and 11 s over De Puniet who came back strong on the two pilots. Barros attacked and passed 5th in front of Melandri at the entrance to the chicane. At the entrance of the chicane, Barros attacked in force Hopkins who resisted fairing against fairing and managed to stay ahead of the Brazilian! Barros loses the trajectory and Melandri immediately takes the opportunity to take back 5th place by tipping in the right of the triple !

On the 17th lap, Stoner and Elias lead comfortably ahead of Capirossi who took a little lead over Hopkins, Melandri, Barros and Hayden. Rossi manages to regain some air on De Puniet. Melandri passed Hopkins in force at the entrance to the triple and Barros took advantage of Hopkins’ gap to pass too. Hayden finishes Hopper by having a better entry on the last left to also pass the Suzuki # 21.

At the 18th passage, Stoner and Elias are still well established. Capirossi took 1 s lead over Melandri, Barros, Hayden and Hopkins, Rossi lost almost 1 s over De Puniet who returned to 0.5 s from n ° 46 and attempted a first unsuccessful attack at the entry of the fast right…

In the 19th lap, Stoner, Elias, Capirossi are almost assured of the podium, followed by Melandri, Barros, Hayden and Hopkins who are fighting for the runners-up. Rossi is increasingly threatened by De Puniet. Barros passed 4th ahead of Melandri and De Puniet managed to overtake Rossi. Hofmann is less than 1 sec behind a Doctor decidedly in poor shape !

On the 20th lap, Stoner was 7.1 s ahead of Elias, 10 s over Capirossi, Barros and Melandri returned to the Italian, 11.1 s over Hayden, 11.8 s over Hopkins, 14.9 s over De Puniet, 16.1 s over Rossi and 16.6 s on Hofmann which is only 0.5 s away from the Italian! Melandri passed 4th in front of Barros in the left which commands the descent. Hofmann passes Rossi at the entrance to the left triple. Barros returns to 4th in front of Melandri at the entrance to the triple final.

At the start of the last lap, behind Stoner and Elias, Capirossi held firm ahead of Barros, Melandri, Hayden and Hopkins. At the end of the fast right, the Ducati de Capirossi moves a lot at the limit of the handlebars: Barros takes the opportunity to pass 3rd! But Capirossi does not let it count and comes back with a magnificent braking in sliding at the entrance of the triple chicane! Hopkins passes Hayden on the line.

It is therefore Stoner who interrupts the series of six different winners with this superb victory in front of Elias, then Capirossi who completes the podium of hard struggle. Barros finished 4th, Melandri 5th, Hopkins 6th, Hayden 7th, De Puniet 8th, Hofmann 9th, Rossi 10th, Vermeulen 11th, Checa 12th, Nakano 13th, Tamada 14th and Sylvain Guintoli who took the point of 15th place.

In the championship, Stoner made the big deal of the day by becoming provisional leader with 61 points ahead of Rossi 51, Pedrosa 36, ​​Elias 35, Melandri 30, Edwards and Hayden 26, Barros 25, Hopkins 23, Vermeulen 21, Capirossi 20, Nakano 15 and Checa 14.

On the brands side, Ducati leads with 61 points ahead of Honda 56, Yamaha 51, Suzuki 30, Kawasaki 15 and KR211V 3.

The official Ducati team also leads the team classification with 81 points ahead of Fiat Yamaha 77, Honda Gresini 65, Repsol Honda 62, Rizla Suzuki 44, Pramac D’Antin 37, Kawasaki and Konica Minolta Honda 15, Honda LCR 14, Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 7 and Roberts 3.

Istanbul will therefore have been a real snub for Michelin: the first driver to wear the Clermont-Ferrand brand, Hayden, is 7th! And what about Rossi’s poor performance, very lively at the start of the race and betrayed by his tires? It is therefore the first event to see a dramatic change caused by the new regulations limiting the number of tires, this time in favor of Bridgestone. What will happen in China? See you on May 6 in Shanghai !

They explain themselves…

Casey Stoner (1st)
"We had a great race, but unfortunately other riders weren’t so lucky … But frankly, considering how the Ducati and Bridgestones worked today, we could only do well! I passed Colin on the first lap because I didn’t want to be locked behind like in Jerez. Then Valentino, coming out too wide, more or less offered me first place. From there I was able to make good laps and widen the gap because behind, the other drivers were in a fight. I wouldn’t want to sound too sure of myself, but at the beginning I gave everything I had to create the hole, and when the gap came to 2.53 seconds I tried to slow down so as not to risk compromising anything"

Toni Elias (2nd)
“It was like a race of 125 with incredible overtaking! I focused on getting off to a perfect start and overtook as many drivers as I could in the first few laps but got stuck behind Hopkins for too long. When I finally managed to overtake him, I had a good pace and I was able to pass Rossi. I couldn’t fight for the win because Casey was too fast so I decided to maintain my position”.

Loris Capirossi (3rd)
"It was a fantastic weekend for me, I’m back! 20 days earlier, I had the happiest moment of my life with the birth of my son, so now I’m enjoying riding again and I hope my championship starts today because there are 15 races to go. Everything went well, I got off to a good start and tried to follow Casey but he was so fast that I preferred to slow down a bit. I fought a lot, especially with Alex on the last lap. I lost the front in the fast right, my bike started to move a lot and Alex ironed it so I thought okay, my only chance to get on the podium is to brake him in the chicane !"

Alex Barros (4th)
“Today I did better than yesterday, but not yet enough to have good times. Unfortunately I am not very well physically. I have just come out of a bad cold and today I had to do violence to myself to ride my motorcycle because I am constantly tired. Despite everything I can be satisfied with the work of my team and this time I am solely responsible for my result, because several times I made mistakes and lost precious tenths”.

Randy de Puniet (8th)
"I got off to a bad start … I don’t know what happened but the bike didn’t respond right away when I released the clutch. Then I was going back up when I made a mistake on the straight. I was ninth at the end of the first lap and not far from the leading group. I fought well with Barros and Hayden, but in the space of two laps I lost three seconds trying to pass Rossi. I finally got there four laps from the finish, but at that point the gap with the leaders was too big and I had no choice but to continue at my own pace and finish eighth. I’m happy because I was comfortable and signed the best result for the team this season, but I’m sure if I hadn’t had such a bad start I could have had a better result. I’ll try my luck again in China".

Valentino Rossi (10th)
"We are very disappointed today because we had high hopes for this race. Instead, we had unexpected problems with the tires and it was a disaster. During practice and warm-up the same tires worked well, but unfortunately something happened to them after the first few laps of the race and I couldn’t realize the advantage we had here. We still don’t know anything about what happened to the tires and Michelin is trying to figure out what happened. I got off to a good start, then I made a mistake on the eleventh corner and fell back to fifth. However, at this point my bike was still running very well and I was still able to fight for second place: I was sure to have a good fight against Stoner! Unfortunately after 10 or 11 laps the tires started to lose their grip and I had to slow down because I was rather worried! I felt like there was a big problem with the tires and I had to ride very carefully to finish the race. I am also pissed off against Elias today because I think he behaved rather dangerously … We are all sad, but there are still plenty of races left so we are now waiting for China".

Sylvain Guintoli (15th)
"Overall it was a good weekend. After Qatar and Jerez where we had tested, this track was completely new for me. In the first lap of the race I had to do a bit of "gardening" to avoid the accident in front of me and I think I lost about 10 seconds: so it was a race against time to get back on. the packet. On the last lap I passed Makoto but, unfortunately, when braking at the end of the straight line I rolled on a piece of the footrest that remained on the track after the accident, I lost the front and I almost fell. Getting a new point is satisfying, especially here where I thought it would be more difficult, but I think on the finish I could have been closer to the lead than my 30 seconds without the crash and the small incident on the last round. We always knew we had a good front tire and now we have collected new information to improve the front but the most important thing was the rear tire. Dunlop made big improvements on the rear tire as it was very consistent throughout the race and allowed us to go much faster than last year as I did faster times than Carlos Checa l last year in the dry. This weekend has given me a lot of confidence because I feel that these tires are much better than what a lot of people think and I hope that a race soon will allow us to consolidate all that.".

Olivier Jacque (abandonment)
"I’m sorry for what happened and I have no excuse: I made a mistake. I had made a good start and felt comfortable. I was in a big group and there was an opportunity to gain some places after the fast turn that leads to the chicane. I was in the middle of the peloton and I missed my brake mark: when I braked it was too late, there was no space. I couldn’t avoid hitching Edwards’ rear wheel. I went up in the air and landed on the tailbone. I thought it was broken because it was very painful, but luckily there is no fracture. I am still in shock but above all I am very disappointed for the team, because we have worked hard throughout the weekend and the bike was running well … I am looking forward to China to have a chance to work again harder and bring a good result to the team".

J. ARSOUILLE – Photos DR and F. KIRN

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