RACE REPORT – TURKISH GRAND PRIX - ISTANBUL
30/04/2006
ROSSI RECOVERY FOILED IN TURKISH THRILLER
Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi made up valuable
points in the MotoGP World Championship title chase after
charging from eleventh place on the grid to take fourth overall
in today’s Turkish Grand Prix. Despite making a quick
start from his lowly grid position, the Italian made a mistake
on lap two and dropped as far back as twelfth. However crucial
changes made to the setup of his YZR-M1 before the race then
allowed him to pass no fewer than seven riders, as he lapped
at the same pace as the leading group over the course of the
race. By the time he had made his way through the pack it
was too late for the Italian to challenge for the podium but
a crash for Dani Pedrosa (Honda) on the final lap boosted
his final position to fourth. Today’s result makes Rossi
the highest point-scorer of all time in the Grand Prix World
Championship, overtaking Max Biaggi.
Rossi’s Camel Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards made a
decent start and remained in touch with the leaders for the
opening laps but was unable to make any further progress and
ended the race in ninth – the same position he had started
from on the grid. At the front Marco Melandri (Honda) repeated
his win from last season but was pushed all the way by Casey
Stoner (Honda), who led the race until three corners from
the end, when Melandri made his definitive pass. Nicky Hayden
(Honda) was left to snap up the final podium position after
Pedrosa’s misfortune, the Spanish youngster tumbling
out at turn one on the final lap when attacking Melandri and
Stoner.
VALENTINO ROSSI (4th; + 6.209)
“I got a good start off the line but I had been thinking
about the first corner incident at Jerez and what had happened
to Lorenzo in the 250 race, so I decided to go to the inside
and it cost me four or five places. I made the positions back
by the end of the first lap but I made a mistake under braking
on lap two and lost three seconds and the chance for a podium
today. We have had so many problems this weekend but we solved
some of them in time for the race with some big modifications
after the warm-up this morning and then the bike was okay,
especially in the second half of the race when I really enjoyed
riding it. It will be interesting to see how much more progress
we can make in the test tomorrow because it is a long championship
and the most important thing right now is not where we are
in the standings or the points difference to the leader –
the priority is to get the bike working as we know it can.
This is a tough series and when you have problems you don’t
lose one or two places, you lose ten. It looks like there
was a great battle at the front – it’s a shame
I wasn’t involved! Looking at the championship right
now I would say the top seven all have a chance to win the
title but there is a long way to go yet.”
COLIN EDWARDS (9th; + 22.847)
"We didn’t get it done at all this weekend and
we need to sit down and work out why. It was always going
to be a tough race today but I just didn’t have the
feeling or confidence with the bike to go out and battle with
the guys we should be running with, which is the front group.
We’ve got a test tomorrow and I’m keen to get
out there and get as many laps in as possible. It’s
hard to overcome problems like the ones we’re experiencing
now because you don’t get enough time during a Grand
Prix weekend, so we’ll get as much data together as
we can before China. We simply have to come up with something
for there because this situation can’t go on for any
longer.”
DAVIDE BRIVIO – CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR
“Looking at Valentino’s race pace he could have
easily been on the podium today, or even won the race, which
is a big plus point for us considering the problems we have
had. On lap three he was seven seconds down but he finished
closer to the winner than that, despite having to fight past
so many riders. Even so this has not been a satisfactory weekend
for us and we know we still have a lot of work to do, starting
in tomorrow’s test. We have two very positive riders
and this mood runs all the way through the team, so we will
be working very hard tomorrow. The changes we made to Valentino’s
bike today are encouraging but now we have to further this
development. It was a tough Grand Prix but we have come out
of it with many positives.”
Results*
Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, +41’54.065
Casey Stoner (AUS) Honda LCR, +0.200
Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, +5.458
VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, +6.209
Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, +6.587
Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team, +16.682
Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, +16.777
Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, +21.537
COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, +22.847
Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, +30.483
Championship Standings
Nicky Hayden (USA) 52
Loris Capirossi (ITA) 51
Marco Melandri (ITA) 45
Casey Stoner (AUS) 41
VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) 40
Dani Pedrosa (SPA) 32
Toni Elias (SPA) 32
Shinya Nakano (JPN) 22
Colin EDWARDS (USA) 19
Sete Gibernau (SPA) 18
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