MotoGP Turkey
Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park
October 23, 2005

Melandri Takes First MotoGP Win

And yes, the curse is still with Gibernau.

Edited by R.K. for webBikeWorld

23-year-old Honda hotshot Marco Melandri (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) won his first MotoGP race in the initial Grand Prix of Turkey in Istanbul.

Melandri beat reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) with Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) third.

The 23-lap race got off to a blistering start at this 5.340km track that was new to all riders this weekend.  With ambient temperature at 20 degrees (C) and with the track surface at 26 degrees, conditions were ripe for a fierce contest – but no one had an answer to Melandri’s sheer pace.

The Italian had qualified on the front row for the eighth time this season and this time he made sure the victory was his as he scorched into the downhill left-hand turn one with five clear bike-lengths between him and his team-mate Sete Gibernau (Team Movistar Honda RC211V), who eventually finished fourth.

The pattern for the race was set early when Melandri, Gibernau and Hayden made the early running.  Rossi got a poor start and had to claw his way up from eighth in the opening lap, but by lap three he was making inroads into Hayden’s third place, setting a fastest lap of 1 min 53.7s as he did so.

Then it was Gibernau’s turn to make the running with a fastest lap as he and Melandri circulated together in a bid to establish supremacy.  But Gibernau succumbed to his own enthusiasm as he visited the gravel trap on lap five.  The Spaniard rejoined the race in seventh place – but despite a spirited effort he was never going to get back on terms with the front-runners.

Melandri was never going to be denied this victory.  He looked smooth and rapid as he made the fastest lap of the race with a 1 min 53.11s effort on lap 17.  He was carving times in the mid 1m 53s region throughout the race and this was always going to be too hot a pace for anyone to get near him – let alone make a pass.

As Rossi climbed to second past Hayden on lap eight Melandri held a 1.075 second lead.  This was extended to 1.5 seconds by lap 12 and to a full two seconds by lap 17.  It dropped to 1.5 seconds again in the closing laps, but by then he had done more than enough to reap the rewards for his determination to end his first season with Honda in the premier class with a richly deserved win.

Melandri said, “This win in the MotoGP class feels different to winning in the 250s.  I liked this track from the first moment I tried it and the team did a great job.  After dominating the free sessions I knew I could have a good race, but it’s not always that easy.  I got away well and even though Sete got past me I was happy to wait as we were opening up a gap on the rest.  I want to enjoy this moment and thank Fausto (Gresini) for the confidence he has shown in me, Fabrizio Cecchini, my chief mechanic and everyone at Honda and Michelin.”

Hayden said, “That’s the first time in MotoGP I’ve had three consecutive podiums so that’s definitely a step forward but to be honest I haven’t really had the pace all weekend.  In the race I came through much faster than we’d managed during the practice days and for that I’m happy.  Congratulations to Marco, he definitely deserves it – we now have a little gap to second place.”

For Gibernau, this race was ‘so near yet so far’.  He said, “This is not my year and it’s a shame because the team did a great job this weekend and we had a great chance to take our first win.  We have wasted another chance but race after race things have not gone my way.  I went off after a mistake; I went into a corner to quickly and tried to brake but couldn’t. It cost us dear again."

Chris Vermeulen, standing in for the injured Troy Bayliss (Camel Honda RC211V), finished just outside the top ten in 11th.  He said, “We can say that I managed to complete one of my objectives, which was to finish ahead of another Honda, but it’s not enough though.  I would have had to do much better to be satisfied.  As I ride this bike more I realize how many things I still have to learn and that this is building up some great experience for me.  Today I got away better than in Phillip Island and I battled with several riders for a few laps.  I also committed a few mistakes and one of these allowed Tamada and Nakano to pass me.”

Max Biaggi (Repsol Honda RC211V) was 12th.  He said, “I never felt comfortable on the bike around here at any point of the weekend.  My team tried so many things but nothing seemed to work.  I rode as hard as I could on the package we had today and in the end it was only good enough for 12th place.  To be in this position hurts me so much.”

250CC
Casey Stoner (Aprilia) won the 250cc race.  The Aussie has now consolidated second overall in the World Championship to Dani Pedrosa (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) who was second today.  Hiroshi Aoyama (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) was third.

Stoner looked hungry today after the crushing disappointment of a fall at his home race last weekend.  Tire wear was a huge issue and all riders complained of a fierce deterioration of the left side of their rubber – chiefly the front tyres.  But all had to compensate and Stoner and Pedrosa were plainly the men who could best ride around the problem.  The pair were eight seconds ahead of the pursuing duo of Alex de Angelis (Aprilia) and Aoyama at mid-distance.

Stoner got the verdict over Dani by just under a tenth of a second at the flag while Aoyama had to cope with a desperate De Angelis leaning on him mid-crash at the final turn.  The Italian didn’t recover and Aoyama cruised to the podium alone.

Pedrosa said, “The front tire was gone and so was my confidence in it.  I made a mistake staying behind Stoner, but there was little I could do because my engine was not quite as strong as his today.  The team did a great job as usual but I just couldn’t quite do it today.”

125CC
Mike Di Meglio (Kopron Racing World Honda RS125R) won the 125cc race, his first Grand Prix win.  Mattia Pasini (Aprilia) was second and form rider Tomoyoshi Koyama (Ajo Motorsport Honda RS125R) was third for his second consecutive podium finish in his rookie season.

The big news is that Mika Kallio (KTM), the man mounting the challenge to series points leader Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R) crashed on the last lap.  He nearly collected Luthi as he slid across the asphalt, but the Swiss remained composed enough to finish fifth and extend his lead to 23 points with just one round remaining in the series.

Luthi led into turn one with a bold ride around the outside of the pack and he made sure he remained bunched in the lead group of nine riders in the early laps.  As the front-running men were whittled down to five riders when Sergio Gadea and Hector Faubel (both Aprilia) eliminated themselves when they tangled and fell at the final turn on lap four, Luthi held station in fourth.

Luthi has 235 points to Kallio’s 212, with Gabor Talmacsi holding third place overall with 178.  The Constructor’s World Championhsip shows KTM with 307 points to Honda’s 294 with Aprilia on 280.