MotoGP Set-up report  - Istanbul round 15

Circuit: Istanbul Otodrom
Country: Turkey
Track length: 5378 m
Opened: 2005
Circuit web site: http://www.turkeygrandprix.com

The Istanbul Otodrom track was finished earlier this year and succesfully
inaugurated by the F1 circus, coming weekend it is up to the MotoGP boys to
attack this new venue. The circuit is one of Herman Tilke's creations, the
famous designer who also created the Sepang, Bahrain and Shanghai tracks. It can
seat 130.000 spectators and is situated in the Asian part of Turkey, about 80
km's east from Istanbul.

The track runs anti clockwise and is 5378 metres long with an average width of
15 m. It consists of 14 corners of which six are right turns and eight are to
the left. The first part of the circuit is tight and technical, while the second
part is open and fast featuring a backside straight with what looks to be a very
exciting high speed kink in it. The riders are then slowed down by a chicane
before they hit the relatively short 655,5 m start and finish straight.
    
Interesting is that the track runs over four level sections with rising and
descending grades.

With a new tack and not knowing what to expect both Valentino Rossi and Colin
Edwards will attack the race with a different base set-up on each bike. The
bikes will start with a neutral setting enabling to experiement with various
set-up direction. During Friday the crew and rider will then decide which
machine feels most comfortable and will then start to make changes to come up
with the ideal setting for the race.