PRAMAC D’ANTIN MOTOGP
PREVIEW – Grand Prix of Turkey (GMT+3)
ALEX HOFMANN AND JOSE LUIS CARDOSO FOR THE FIRST TIME ON
THE TRACK OF ISTANBUL PARK
The Team PRAMAC D’ANTIN MOTOGP is ready for the third
race of the season that will take place on the “Istanbul
Park Circuit” in Turkey. A track inaugurated last year,
when the MotoGP race was in October. None of the Team riders
ever rode on the Istanbul track, ALEX HOFMANN having injured
himself at Motegi in Japan last season and JOSE LUIS CARDOSO
as he was racing in the World Superbike Championship in 2005.
In short, for both of them it will be the first race on this
new circuit with the DUCATI DESMOSEDICI GP06 “Sat.”.
The first sessions of free practice will be on Friday at 10
a.m. in Turkey (GMT + 3).
LUIS D’ANTIN (Team Manager): “This
track is new for both our riders, there will surely be a lot
of work to do and we will do the maximum from the very first
day, to allow them to make a good race with our DUCATI DESMOSEDICI
GP06 “Sat.”. We will especially go on with the
tyres development, the most important thing for the moment”.
ALEX HOFMANN #66: “I never rode on
the Istanbul track, due to my foot injury last year in Japan
that made me lose four races included this one in Turkey.
Of course I saw the race on television and I’m sure
I will like it as everybody told me it is a really fun track
to ride on. So I’m really looking forward to race in
Istanbul and get some more points in the general classification.
Besides I have never been in Turkey before and I’m really
curious to see this country”.
JOSE LUIS CARDOSO #30: “The truth
is that everybody says this track is very nice and technical.
From what I saw on television and from the “on-board”
camera, it seems to be a very beautiful circuit and I’m
sure I will like it. There are only few days left and I can’t
wait to go back riding to discover this track. This time,
I hope to get some points for the championship, it would be
a great satisfaction for myself and the whole Team, we will
do the maximum to obtain the best result as possible”.
CIRCUIT DETAILS
The “Istanbul Park Circuit” is located on the
Asian side of Istanbul and allows the World Championship to
open its doors to the Orient. The track was designed by Herman
Tilke, the famous architect behind a number of racetracks
like Sepang in Malaysia or Shanghai in China. Besides, its
stands are ready to welcome up to 155.000 fans. It has been
inaugurated last season and the most of the riders immediately
liked it, thanks to its breath-taking changes in elevation
as well as some extremely fast and challenging corners. The
ideal set-up of the motorcycle has to be flexible, to be able
to get a bike easy to handle in the slow parts and steady
in the fast ones. There are echoes of several world famous
corners, the most thrilling being the fast turn number eleven,
that resembles the “Eau Rouge” of Spa-Francorchamps
: without any doubt the fastest corner of the whole MotoGP
World Championship. The track is long 5340 meters and has
got 14 corners (6 to the right and 8 to the left).
Longest straight: 720m
Width: 21m
Pole Position: right
Direction: Clockwise
MotoGP - Circuit record: 1’53.111 (Marco Melandri -
2005)
MotoGP - Fastest lap: 1’52.334 (Sete Gibernau - 2005)
2005 MotoGP race: 1st Marco Melandri (Honda) 2nd Valentino
Rossi (Yamaha) 3rd Nicky Hayden (Honda)
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