Motorcycles and news

MotoGP: Honda Benefits From Good Weather In Istanbul April 30, 2006

Just twenty days after the latest race in Qatar, the Konica Minolta Honda Team is warming up its engines again for the third round of the MotoGP World Championship, on the brand-new circuit of Istanbul situated on the Europe-Asia border.

The sunny weather, characterized by a vernal temperature with a light breeze, have permitted a normal first day of free practice.

Temperatures have reached 20°C in the air and 27°C on the ground with a humidity rate of 15%.

The Honda RC211V has been the protagonist of today occupying the first five position of the Turkey GP provisional classification.

Makoto Tamada covered 22 laps in the first free practice session of this morning and 24 laps during the afternoon session, setting his best time in 1′54.422 placing him the tenth provisional position.

Gianluca Montiron KONICA MINOLTA Honda Managing Director
“During today, Makoto has made a step ahead which should permit him to regain the right confidence to compete with the top riders. The provisional classification of this first day of practice shows ten riders in eight tenths of a second; gaps are very contained and allow us to hope for a better result for tomorrow official qualifying practice. In some laps Makoto has even set the best time in the first and second sector, therefore we have to evaluate the last part of the track to increase our performance moreover. Our technicians will make a careful analysis to determine the reason why the rider is not so incisive in this sector. We really appreciated the good reaction Makoto has demonstrated in this season phase; it is a clear signal that we has got the right interior force to face adversities.”

Makoto Tamada KONICA MINOLTA Honda Rider
“Just from this morning free practice session, I realized that the feeling with the bike was absolutely better in respect to Qatar. Today, during the first free practice session, we defined a good RC211V balance; in the second session we have only made some setting adjustments and we dedicated most of the time to test tyres trying to find the best solution for the race. Michelin brought new material to Istanbul and I can say that I had a good feeling especially with the front tyre. Tomorrow I’ll do my best to find the ideal lines to be very fast during the 22 laps of the race. I’m determined to approach this week end convinced to do well.”

Temperatures: Ambient: 20 degrees. Track: 27 degrees

FREE PRACTICE - COMBINED TIMES

1. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team 1′55.623;
2. Casey Stoner (AUS) LCR Honda +0.238;
3. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda +0.348;
4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +0.378;
5. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda +0.399;
6. Colin Edwards (USA) Camel Yamaha Team +0.419;
7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.432;
8. John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP +0.604;
9. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.656;
10. Makoto Tamada (JPN) JIR Konica Minolta Honda +0.799;