MotoGP 2007- Istanbul, Turkey

MotoGP 2007 Round 3

Turkish Grand Prix, Istanbul, Turkey April 22, 2007

Race Results
Disappointment for Rossi and Edwards on Unlucky Day in Turkey

High hopes for Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards went unfulfilled today as the Fiat Yamaha Team riders, who started from first and second on the grid, were both victims of bad luck at Istanbul Park.

The pair got a good start and were leading the pack into turn one before Edwards dropped back as he was unable to get enough heat into his tire and Rossi made a mistake and ran wide at turn eleven. Disaster then struck for Edwards as he was hit from behind by another rider and sent tumbling into the gravel trap in a crash that involved four riders in total.

Rossi meanwhile seemed to be going well and had fought back to second behind eventual winner Casey Stoner, before he suffered a serious rear tire problem that forced him to roll off the gas and drop right back through the field. The Italian had to use all his talents to keep himself in the race and he eventually brought his Yamaha home in tenth position, taking what were a creditable six points under the circumstances.

Rossi now drops to second place in the championship standings, ten points behind Stoner and 15 ahead of Dani Pedrosa, who was also involved in the first-lap crash. Edwards' unlucky non-finish, only the second in his Yamaha career, means he drops down to sixth. The Fiat Yamaha Team have a one-day test planned tomorrow although Edwards will wait until the morning to confirm if he will ride after badly bruising his knee when he was knocked down.

Valentino Rossi - Position: 10thTime: +18.999: "We are very disappointed today because we had high expectations for this race, but instead we had some unexpected problems with the tire and it's been a disaster for us. Yesterday and this morning the same race tire felt good but unfortunately today something happened to it after some laps and I couldn't fulfill the potential we had here. We don't know the reason yet for the problem but now Michelin are trying to understand what happened."

"I had a great start and was leading on the first lap, although I made a mistake at turn eleven when I ran wide and dropped to fifth. However at that stage my bike was working very well and I was able to fight back to second; I felt sure that I was going to have a good battle with Stoner! Sadly though, after ten or eleven laps, the tire started to lose all grip and I had to slow right down because I was quite scared. It felt like there was a big problem with the tire and I had to go very carefully just to finish. We were very unlucky today, we started first and second but Colin crashed when he was hit and then I had this problem. I'm also quite unhappy with Elias today because I think he was quite dangerous - more than once he passed me on the inside and then altered his line. This is not a correct way to race. We're all quite sad tonight but we have many more races so we will look forward now to China."

2007 MotoGP Turkey - Istanbul - April 22, 2007

Circuit Length: 5378

Temp: 23

Weather: Dry

Race 1 - 22 Laps

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time

1 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 42'2.850

2 Toni Elias Honda ESP 0'6.207

3 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 0'8.102

4 Alex Barros Ducati BRA 0'8.135

5 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'8.289

6 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 0'10.186

7 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 0'10.239

8 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 0'14.734

9 Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 0'16.042

10 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0'18.999

11 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 0'26.249

12 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'29.546

13 Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 0'36.922

14 Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 0'38.540

15 Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 0'39.337

Rider Standings - April 22, 2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points

1. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 61

2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 51

3. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 36

4. Toni Elias Honda ESP 35

5. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 30

6. Nicky Hayden Honda USA 26

7. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 26

8. Alex Barros Ducati BRA 25

9. John Hopkins Suzuki USA 23

10. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 21

11. Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 20

12. Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 15

13. Carlos Checa Honda ESP 14

14. Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 12

15. Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 11

16. Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 4

19. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 3

Team Standings - April 22, 2007

Pos. Team Points

1. Ducati Marlboro Team 81

2. FIAT Yamaha Team 77

3. Honda Gresini 65

4. Repsol Honda Team 62

5. Rizla Suzuki 44

6. Pramac D'Antin 37

7. Kawasaki Racing Team 15

8. Konica Minolta Honda 15

9. Honda LCR 14

10. Tech3 Yamaha 7

11. Team Roberts 3

Manufacturer Standings - April 22, 2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points

1. Ducati 61

2. Honda 56

3. Yamaha 51

4. Suzuki 30

5. Kawasaki 15

6. KR212V 3