Yes, its true. I’m going to avoid the obvious Thanksgiving pun when describing this weekend’s inaugural MotoGP Istanbul event in Turkey. Since this is the first motorcycle event at the track it will be a new experience for crews, riders and fans. Other than some ideas about that track which riders may have gleaned while watching the F1 car races back in August all the racers will be starting with a clean slate.

The Istanbul Park Circuit is an interesting one having been designed by the same architect that sculpted the F1 tracks in Sepang and China. Best of all, he placed little odes to famous tracks around the world in his layout so riders will immediately have a little familiarity at certain places on the track. The builders weren’t stingy with the asphalt either as the track is 3.31 miles in length and 40 to 50 feet wide in places. It shows it’s non-European roots by bucking the continental trend and being run in the counter-clockwise direction. This means that left hand curves predominate (of the 14 turns 8 are left-handers). Since no one has yet ridden the track it is hard to predict how the track is going to work out but looking at the map and specs a few things seem to be likely.

First, like Sepang, the track should allow for plenty of passing. There are a wide variety of corners including some slow, tight turns that are proceeded by relatively straight fast sections. This is the norm for F1 tracks, since it is pretty much the only place the cars can make passes, but it makes for good bike racing as well. This is particularly true in three places: The 90 degree left hander after the start/finish straight, the tight left at teh bottom of a hill that is around the halfway point of the lap and, finally, the last corner on the track is a chicane with a downhill entrance and an exit leading onto the front straight. Like Phillip Island, these downhill braking zones will probably be a natural place for a rider to go for the inside line and pick up positions.

These corner descriptions bring up another interesting aspect of the track which is the elevation. The long track length, which includes four different “straights”, and the constant elevation changes mean that the teams better bring their horsepower this weekend. That usually means the Ducatis and Hondas need to be watched since they always show up with extra ponies. Finally, the track width means that multiple lines can be used going into corners and that should help encourage more passing. Since passing is what makes watching a race so exciting that is definitely a good thing.

As I mentioned above, the circuit has a little of everything. Most of the corners flow together but there is a mix of rhythm sections, slow turns, fast bends and straights. Bike setup will be tricky since the front forks have to be stiff to deal with the two hard downhill breaking areas but will then be too hard for the two ultra fast right hand kinks (one exiting the first turn and the second in the middle of the back straight). The bikes need to be stable for the long straights and to deal with the acceleration/deceleration areas but that then means they will be a handful when transitioning side to side in the “s” sections. Riders will have to decide where they want to make their compromises and that means certain people will be fast in some sections and others fast in different parts of the track.

The tire situation will again be one to watch. Since this is a new track neither Michelin nor Bridgestone have any bike set-up information. Both tire companies supply F1 teams so it will be interesting to see which company has the best transfer of information between their cage and bike divisions. It will also be interesting to see just how conservative the two companies are with their selection of tires for the weekend. Since the track has a very fast layout, expect tire wear to be a concern all weekend long. We’ll have to see if either company gambles wrong when it comes to tire life.

Naturally, there is still a lot of interesting news in the paddock. Silly season is coming to a close but there are injuries, replacement riders and job hunters still to be mentioned. After last weekend’s Australian GP, Capirossi and Roberts Jr are nursing wounds and neither will make the show in Turkey. Likewise, Bayliss and Hoffman are still out and neither will likely re-appear on a MotoGP bike this season. Ducati is replacing Capirex with Bridgestone test rider and GP veteran Shinichi Itoh. Jacque is again filling in for Hoffman at Kawasaki and Honda superstar Vermeulen is still subbing for Bayliss. All three of these riders are hoping for GP rides next year though it sounds like their current rides will not be available. Itoh is rumored to be a possibility on the D’Antin Ducati squad, Vermeulen may or may not be heavily in talks with Suzuki and Jacque is begging for something better than another year as Kawasaki’s test rider.

The first question, as always, is whether anyone can beat Rossi. The only time he has really been bested all season was when he had to learn a new circuit at Laguna Seca. The Americans had ridden there before and their 1-2 finishes over Rossi were thus explained away as home field advantage. It will be interesting to see if anyone can win against The Doctor when the track is equally new to everyone. The layout should favor Hayden because of the left hand turns so expect him to be fast. Likewise, Melandri is mostly healed from his foot injury and has returned to his early season form with strong finishes at the past few races. Since he is fighting with Nicky for second overall in the championship Marco will be up front. Checa has also woken up here at the end of the year and will want to close out his career on the Ducati with strong finishes. Expect the Duc’s power to be very helpful when accelerating out of the slow corners in Turkey. Gibernau, who has gone backwards at the last few races, will want to close to his season with Honda with an upswing before trading bikes with Checa for next year.

Then there is Rossi. Ever time a track looks to suit the faster bikes the Italian wonder boy shows that his incredible talent trumps everything. I expect to see Rossi pull some amazing passes at the Istanbul circuit especially into the downhill tight turns. Rossi was given some push back at Phillip Island by the youngsters Hayden and Melandri. I doubt he’ll be able to break away from the faster Hondas in Turkey but expect him to rule the turns.

It should be an exciting race. Fortunately, SpeedTV is showing both the MotoGP and 250GP race this Sunday so I’ll be able to settle in for an afternoon of race watching. I hope you can do the same.

[image from the Istanbul MotoGP web site.]