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THE TRACK.
Designed by Hermann Tilke, the man behind Sepang, Bahrain and Shanghai, Istanbul Park lies on the Asian side of Turkey, around 60km from Istanbul city centre.

With plenty of open space to work with, the German architect was able to create a magnificent facility: a technical circuit with an exciting layout, a huge and modern box and paddock complex and a main grandstand with the capacity for 80,000 spectators.

Istanbul is different to other Tilke designs in that there are no extremely long straights ­ here the longest one measures only 720 metres. This track is characterised by the drastic changes in level and a series of varied corners linked together ­ fast, technical or extremely slow, such as turns 13 and 14. Tilke’s intention was to base the design of certain corners on some of the most famous bends from other legendary circuits, such as turns one and two, which are a copy of the ‘Senna Esses’ at Sao Paolo, whilst turn 11 is based on the ‘Eau Rouge’ at Spa and turn nine 9 is similar to the Spoon Curve at Suzuka. The track is spectacular for the fans and challenging for the riders in equal measures, with the changes in level in particular creating several blind spots.

Maximum gradient: 8.1% Direction: Anti-clockwise

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 special 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 flag.

REPEAT MISSION
MARCO MELANDRI:
“The positive results we obtained in the Qatar test have made me look forward really positively to Istanbul ­ it is a track I like and it suits my riding style. These are two factors that are in my favour but I will still have to concentrate hard on the bike. We’ll be starting with a decidedly different base setting to the one we had at the last GP and I believe it has a lot of potential. I would have liked to have been heading into this event with a better performance behind me but I’m sure that the feeling we found in the test, the desire to have fun and the good memories I hold of this circuit will give me plenty of strength. The 2005 Grand Prix of Turkey was a truly memorable event ­ how could I ever forget the moment I crossed the line?! The chequered flag being waved and the celebrations on the podium were two of the most exciting moments in my life.”

ALL EYES ON ISTANBUL
A rider on the up, Toni Elias has shown his potential from the first race of the championship. His brush with the podium at Jerez and a front row start in Doha have turned Toni into one of the surprises of the season so far.