After a drama charged Grand Prix of Turkey the Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team can leave Istanbul extremely satisfied as riders Makoto Tamada and Sylvain Guintoli scored more championship points finishing in 14th and 15th spots respectively. In what is shaping as the most intensely contested MotoGP Championship on record, both riders were extremely fortunate not to be involved in a spectacular opening lap crash that caused three riders to retire, as the Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 pilots were forced to take evasive action to stay in the race. Losing vital seconds in the melee, both riders recovered composure rapidly to give chase to the quickly disappearing pack and with determined rides closed the gap to the leaders over the remainder of the race to finish just 30 seconds from a podium finish.
Confirming the continuing development of both the new generation Dunlop tyres and the 800cc Yamaha's that have made their debut in the new look championship in 2007, both riders consistently lapped the 5.340km Istanbul Park circuit over a second quicker than last year.
Makoto Tamada
Makoto Tamada - Position: 14thTime: +38.540 The race wasn't so bad for me after Jerez but I need to find more consistency in myself. I had a good tyre as in the first few laps I could push very hard. It then dropped off a little but then the consistency remained the same. In the first lap I lost a bit as I had to ride around a long way to avoid the bikes on the track. I rode very hard to try and make up the difference but this is where I think I used a bit of the rear tyre trying to catch up to everyone. During the race I had a good battle with Shinya Nakano and my teammate Sylvain so things are getting better but the tyre remained consistent in its level of grip. I am working well with the team as we get to know each other and I am getting more and more confidence with the Dunlop tyres after being on other makes of tyres for many years. I feel that with the improvements we are making with the bike and the help from Dunlop that our results will improve at every race, as long as there are not too many crashes in front of me!
Sylvain Guintoli - Position: 15thTime:+39.337 Overall it was a good weekend. After Qatar and Jerez where we did some testing, this track was completely new to me. In the first lap I had to do a bit of gardening to miss the accident in front of me on the first lap and I think I lost about 10 seconds so it was a race against the clock to come back to the pack. On the last lap I had passed Makoto but unfortunately braking at the end of the straight I hit a bit of footpeg from the big crash that was still on the track and I lost the front and nearly crashed. One point is good again, especially here where I thought it would be more difficult but I think I could've been closer to the front than 30 seconds except for missing the crash and that little incident on the last lap.
We always knew we had a good front tyre and now we have found some new information to improve the front but especially the most important was the rear tyre. Dunlop has made some big improvements with the rear tyre as it was very consistent the entire race and allowed us to go much faster than last year as I have done faster lap times than Carlos Checa did last year in the dry. This weekend has given me a lot more confidence as I feel these tyres are much better than a lot of people think so I am hoping for a race soon where we can get everything to gel together.
Herve Poncharal - Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team DirectorI am reasonably satisfied with the result of the weekend as we are again in the points and towards the end of the race, we were quicker than a few riders in front of us and this proves that we are becoming more competitive at each race and that the new tyre rules are working. I am extremely happy with Sylvain and feel that if he wasn't involved in the first lap drama that he would have scored more points than the single one that he claimed. He came back strongly and was very consistent the entire race, competing together with Shinya Nakano and Carlos Checa. The most encouraging sign for us was that we were only 30 seconds from third place and this proves to me the improvement that is being made to the entire package as last year we struggled here and this year it is a lot better result for us We are staying here to test tomorrow and we have quite a few things to test especially in the tyre department. We have to keep it in perspective though as we are not going to climb ten steps at once but from the beginning of the season we are consistent and we are steadily improving.
Circuit Length: 5378
Temp: 23
Weather: Dry
Race 1 - 22 Laps - MotoGP Turkey - Istanbul 22/04/20071. 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: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 - USA26
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: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:1. Ducati 61
2. Honda 56
3. Yamaha 51
4. Suzuki 30
5. Kawasaki 15
6. KR212V 3
Related Linkswww.yamaha-racing.com
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