MotoGP 2006 - Round Three

After a busy qualifying session held in a heavy deluge of rain Chris Vermeulen emerged with his first ever pole position to make it the second time in a row that a rookie from Australia had taken pole position. With dry weather greeting riders on race day the chances of that pole being converted to a race win looked slim. It has been a long time between drinks from the winner's champagne for the Suzuki squad, their last victory was five years ago when Sete Gibernau came out on top at Valencia. Vermeulen's pole was also the first for Suzuki since Kenny Roberts was the quickest qualifier at Rio back in 2004. Vermeulen's team-mate John Hopkins qualified fifth, his best qualifying result since he started from third position at Sepang in 2005.

The wet qualifying session also suggested that Michelin has work to do if they hope to match the Bridgestone shod men in the wet. Nicky Hayden was second quickest and only just missed out on knocking Vermeulen off top spot but the Repsol HRC rider is the only Michelin man on the first two rows. If the young American makes the podium in what is his 50th start in MotoGP it will be his seventh consecutive podium finish.

Sete Gibernau rounded out the front row and if he can translate that third quickest qualifying position into a similar race result it will be his first podium since he took second place in Germany last July.

While Hayden was making his 50th start in Grand Prix Italian veteran Loris Capirossi was making his 50th start for Ducati. If the diminutive Italian finishes in the top 15 Turkey would mark his 100th point scoring finish in the premier class.

Casey Stoner had been quickest in some of the dry practice session but the wet qualifier saw him slip back to seventh quickest. He proved immediately quick in Turkey in dry conditions similar to those conditions found on race day so he was definitely in with a chance of becoming the joint youngest ever winner in the premier class. Freddie Spencer the record holder at 20 years and 196 days, exactly the same age as Stoner.

Colin Edwards had qualified in ninth position, two places better than his team-mate and reigning world champion Valentino Rossi. Edwards has been a picture of consistency since joining Yamaha and has 23 successive point scoring finishes under his belt. Turkey marked the second time since joining Yamaha that he had managed to out-qualify Rossi. Turkey marked the 100th start in the premier class for the seven times world champion.

A poor qualifying performance has rarely affected Rossi too much come race day however and Turkey marked the fifth successive race where the Italian superstar had failed to make the front row. Turkey's Istanbul Park circuit not one of his favourites however as it is one of only two circuits where he has failed to take a victory. The other being Laguna Seca in the United States. Rossi required only a ninth place finish to become the all time top points scorer in the history of Grand Prix racing, eclipsing Max Biaggi's total.

Toni Elias had started the 2006 season well but could only manage the 12th fastest time in the wet qualifying session. The Spaniard was certainly still in with a chance however as his best result of 2005, his rookie season in MotoGP, was the sixth place he earned in Turkey.

Chris Vermeulen capitalised on his pole position to lead the field through turn one with Sete Gibernau close behind on the Ducati. The power of the Ducati soon allowed Gibernau to overhaul Vermeulen to take the lead, John Hopkins had moved up to third place ahead of Hayden, Stoner and Melandri.

Vermeulen was not going to roll over and play dead under the onslaught of the Ducati power though and sneaked back past Gibernau for the lead late on the first lap. On the main straight Gibernau simply blasted past the Suzuki however and Hopkins also managed to slipstream past his team-mate for second spot. Casey Stoner got the better of Nicky Hayden to make it Australians placed third and fourth and immediately started challenging to try and reverse that order. Rossi ran wide early on the second lap and lost some positions as a result of that mistake, the reigning world champion had slipped to 14th position as the protagonists started lap three.

Vermeulen managed to keep Stoner at bay for a couple of laps before succumbing to the Honda man on lap four. Stoner had been held up a bit by Vermeulen which had allowed Gibernau and Hopkins to escape a little but he put the bit between his teeth to try and close the full second he lagged behind second placed man Hopkins who in turn was half a second behind race leader Gibernau. Vermeulen then slipped to sixth place after both Melandri and Hayden pushed their way past the Rizla Suzuki man. Hayden took fourth place from Marco Melandri on the next lap and the next target in his sights was Casey Stoner in third place and the Repsol man was at this point of the race the fastest man on the track.

It didn't take Stoner too long to get on terms with Hopkins but unfortunately for him Hayden and Melandri had also closed right up and turned the fight for second place into a four way affair. Stoner was certainly being held up by Hopkins but the American was a demon on the brakes in protecting his position which was making it very hard for Stoner to be able to make a polite pass. Stoner managed to finally get past the Suzuki man on lap seven of the 22 lap race distance. All this battling over second place had played into the hands of Gibernau however as the Spaniard had pushed his Ducati out to a handy lead that amounted to a full second.

It didn't take too long for Hayden to get the better of Hopkins he then went on to relegate Stoner back to third place. His Repsol HRC team-mate Dani Pedrosa had a dreadful run in the wet qualifying session but had been reeling off a series of very fast race laps to promote himself from the 16th place he started the race in up to fifth place only 1.3 seconds behind race leader Gibernau after eight laps. The next lap saw Pedrosa move up to fourth place after passing Stoner.

The whole group had really closed up as the race approached the halfway point with only 1.3 seconds covering the top six. Gibernau was leading the way from Hayden, Melandri, Pedrosa, Stoner and Vermeulen. Hopkins had slipped to 11th place in a matter of laps while Rossi had worked his way up to ninth place, half a second behind Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards.

The actual halfway point of the race saw the tides turn up front with Marco Melandri and Dani Pedrosa fighting their way to the front of the pack and the two youngsters pulled half a second on their pursuers in a single lap. Sete Gibernau had gone from the lead to fifth place behind Casey Stoner in the space of a single lap. The reason for John Hopkins rapid fade became apparent when the American entered pitlane for a new rear hoop as his Bridgestone had destroyed itself. The two front running men were Michelin shod with a soft rear slick and medium fronts.

A battle royale started to unfold between Melandri and Pedrosa with the pair swapping positions numerous times over the next couple of laps. Gibernau had slipped to sixth place behind Vermeulen so the Bridgestone tyre dramas perhaps were not isolated just to Hopkins. Vermeulen of course also Bridgestone shod but was now also starting to lose touch with the charging Honda quartet in front of him.

Dani Pedrosa managed to pull a couple of tenths out of Melandri on lap 12 of the 22 lap race. Hayden then pushed Melandri back to third place, Stoner was also right there in the hunt, only 2-tenths of a second covered the riders running second, third and fourth. Pedrosa had managed to build an 8-tenths of a second buffer. Stoner was starting to haggle Melandri for third place as Hayden started to pull away from them. Valentino Rossi was the quiet achiever some distance behind and had moved past Gibernau, Elias and Capirossi to move up to sixth position. His sights were then set on fifth placed Chris Vermeulen.

It didn't take Rossi too long to dispense with Vermeulen but his race pace was not going to be good enough to get him any better than the fifth place he was running, 7 seconds behind the quarter of Hondas fighting over the lead, unless something drastic happened to any of the men in front of him.

Melandri hit the front with five laps to run while Hayden had slipped to the back of that pack. Stoner then got the better of Pedrosa for second place and sat on the tail of Melandri. Honda 1-2-3-4, but the full factory men were at the back of that quarter, not a good look for the Repsol squad.

Casey Stoner hit the front with four laps to run. Elias had picked up his pace again and was starting to challenge Rossi for fifth position.

Stoner looked to have perhaps been playing it smart, after hitting the front he managed to pull half a second out of his pursuers in a single lap. Pedrosa then went past Melandri for second place and closed on Stoner. The young pair had been in this position many times before in the 250cc ranks but then Stoner didn't have the privilege of near equal machinery as HRC's favourite son.

Melandri got back past Pedrosa for second place with a lap and a half to run. The trio had left Hayden behind and out of the battle for the win. Pedrosa tried to put a move back on Melandri but only served to trip himself up which lost him time. Pedrosa then lost the front which put all his hard work to no gain. The battle for the win was on, and on in earnest, Melandri was all over the back of Stoner as they made their way around the Istanbul Park circuit for the last time this year.

Half a lap to run and it was still Stoner, and the young Aussie was looking good, only a mistake would cost him the win by the look of it. But no Melandri tried a huge move under brakes and parked it under Stoner which gave the Italian the inside line through the next series of turns and that decided the race. Melandri, through some smart racecraft, stole the win from Stoner only a few turns from the end to take a deserving win. Hayden too third position a full five seconds behind that duo while Valentino Rossi took a hard earned fourth place to become the highest points scorer in the history of Grand Prix racing.

Toni Elias came home fifth well ahead of Loris Capirossi while early race leader Chris Vermeulen took seventh ahead of Shinya Nakano and Colin Edwards. Makoto Tamada rounded out the top ten. John Hopkins tyre change meant he finished just out of the points in 17th position. Pedrosa recovered from his fall on the penultimate lap to salvage a couple of points for 14th place.

Nicky Hayden's podium result was enough to promote him to the championship lead by a single point over Loris Capirossi. Melandri's win moved him up to third in the series standings, four points ahead of second place finisher Casey Stoner. Rossi's fighting fourth puts him into fifth place on the table, only 12 points behind championship leader Hayden and single point behind fourth ranked Stoner.

The MotoGP World Championship reconvenes in a fortnights time in Shanghai.

-- Check out the first gallery of images from the Turkish Grand Prix --

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