A lap of the Istanbul Park on Marco's Honda
FROM THE SADDLE WITH MARCO MELANDRI
Istanbul is a special circuit and it is easy to understand
why. Last year I had an extraordinary weekend here. I was
strong in practice and the race was unforgettable, leading
all the way to my first MotoGP win. It was an unforgettable
emotion. Perhaps that is the reason or perhaps it is because
of the characteristics of the track but I like Istanbul Park
a lot. It is a complete and technical circuit with a lot of
changes in direction and pace. There are slow corners in first
or second gear, as well as some fast ones in fourth or fifth.
Despite the short straight it is a fun track and it allows
you to get the full potential out of a MotoGP bike.
Join me on the Honda - let's take a lap together
We start with a short straight and then the first difficult
section, with an exciting braking area, probably one of the
most difficult on the calendar (you drop from fifth to second
gear, from around 280km/h to about 96).
You move back up the gears to fifth, arriving at the limit
to tackle the long right-hander which you take in fourth gear
at around 260km/h. You have to be ready to prepare for the
change of direction to the left that comes after; the bike
tends to slide around and it is easy to make a mistake.
This is the start of a very important section if you want
to set a fast lap - a series of linked corners that you take
in second, making the most of the torque range of the engine.
You come out and shift up to fourth to take on the downhill
right before the big left hander - the longest on the championship
- which can be taken in third, playing with the throttle to
find the best possible line. You can take a lot of different
lines through here but you must be careful because the track
is bumpy. There is a short straight where you shift up from
third to fifth and reach around 285km/h before a section of
four really fun corners, which you take as one in second gear.
Then it's third, fourth, fifth, up towards the fastest corner
in the championship, where tenths of a second can be won and
lost as you go through at over 250km/h. It is important to
get a good exit from this corner in order to set up your attack
on the final section of the circuit: a violently hard braking
from sixth gear to first, dropping from 300 to 70km/h. The
track is bumpy and it is difficult to stay on the right line.
It is important to be fast here because you have three first
gear corners where you can make one last attempt to overtake
before the charge to the chequered. Marco Melandri
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