Both just got back from Istanbul with the following results: Stoner took fifth at Jerez just 2.3 seconds off the track to go second in the World Championship (close call though). Stoner is definitely looking forward to return to Istanbul Park and pave his way to road massacre again. Meanwhile, Capirossi has had more difficulties jerking his brakes in Qatar, steering him to crash while running fifth and charging through the biking hordes. At Jerez, he completed the race finishing in 12th place (good enough to earn his points for the racing season).
Istanbul’s tracks lay on the south east of the Turkish region on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, the road flows across rolling hillsides that produces a lap which contradicts dead-stop chicanes with the impressive 260km/h/160mph. The bikes are easily maneuvered through the slow sections and still have that riding stability through high-speed segments.
As Livio Suppo, Ducati MotoGP project manager enthused, “Turkey is going to be very interesting because it’s the first time we will race under the new tire rules at a track at which we haven’t tested. We are looking forward to see how the weekend goes for us and everyone else too.”
Here’s what the Ducati riders have to say about their MotoGP season’s achievements:
Casey Stoner, 2nd overall on 36 points
“We had a really good race in Turkey last year and the year before I won the 250 race, so it’s good to be going back there. The way the Ducati and the Bridgestones are working I think we’re going to be quite competitive. The chemistry in the team is great; we’re just doing the best job we can and learning as much as we can about the bike. Some of the corners at Istanbul are very interesting, like the really quick one coming up over the hill near the end of the lap. But it’s quite stop-start, it doesn’t flow like a Mugello or a Phillip Island. It’s a very technical track to get right, which is why the race spread a lot of people out last year; it’s quite hard to stay at the front. A wide range of bikes work there because you’ve got a big range of corners. You can make your time through the fast corners with a bike that’s nice and stable or you can have a bike that’s nice and nimble to get through the tight twisty bits. The new tire rules seem fairer for everyone, there are enough tires and I think we’ve adjusted to the new rules well.”
Loris Capirossi, 14th overall on 4 points
“I am looking forward to Turkey because we’ve had two difficult results from the first two races and I know we can perform much better than that. The layout of Istanbul Park is good; it’s a really interesting racetrack so I really like it. I rode there for the first time last year and my first impressions were really good, though the weather was terrible – raining and cold – so it wasn’t an easy weekend for anyone. The first part of track is good and then there’s the really fast turn 11 before the final chicane. Turn 11 is a really fun corner, amazing, because you’re going so fast, pretty much flat out in fifth gear on the 990! You want the bike to be stable for that very fast corner, but you also need it to be nimble through the tighter corners. The GP7 is more agile than the GP6 so it will be interesting to see how it goes. Like everywhere, you need good tires at Istanbul, so I hope we can work well with Bridgestone to get a good result.”