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MOTOGP
*ound
3
April 30. 2006
WoPld
Championship
MotoGP
s€ri€s
make of bike
to win a
race.
*
There was a third
different
rider on
pole
Position.
*
The
race was
a mesmerizing con-
test, with a dizzying
number
of lead
changes.
*
The rookie brigade
was in full cry,
with Casey Stoner
close to
his first win
in only
his third MotoGP race.
*
Second rookie Dani Pedrosa
was
another winning
candidate,
from l6th
on the
grid
to a costly
crash on
the final
l"P.
*
Valentino
Rossi,
who was in his own
words
"completely
in the
sh---t" in
qual-
go
from
l4th on lap tvvo
to within
a
whisker
of the
podium.
*
The MotoGP
event
was backed uP
by an epic 250cc GP
*
Althor.rgh
well-hidden. the
massive
grandstands
out
on the distant
hillsides
empt/, a
fair crowd
of more than 38,000
were there to see
it all, a So-percent
improvement
on last
year.
They
got
value for
their money, and a
dry day,
after
persistent rain on the
previous
day
had thrown
a spanner
in the work of
MotoGP
qualifying,
puttin8
Chris
Vermeulen's Suzuki on the
marque's
first
pole
since
2004 in Brazil, and its
second
Melandri's
victory
was at the head
of
a
squad of Hondas,
lilling the
rostrum,
and with
another Honda
fifth behind
Rossi's
Yamaha.
The
guys
ioining
Fortuna Honda
rider
Melandri on the
box were
LCR Honda's
Casey
Stoneri
iust
two tenths
behind
after
a
very convincing showing;
and
Repsol
Honda's
Nicky Hayden,
who
dropped out of
contention
for the lead
only
in the closing
laps. The
American
did
get
some compensation
-
a one-
poinr
lead
in rhe World Championship-
Fifth
went to Fonuna Honda's
Toni
Elias. who chased
Rossi
all
once agai n rode a b.illiant
race
to
in
four
MotocP
BY Mrcrnel
Scorr
PHoros
BY Goo & Goos:
ood circu its make for
good racing. lstanbul Park
was
proof of that truth.
The third
MotoGP
round
was an absolute corker.
22
|//\Y
10,2006
.
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It was also another
omen of a briliiant
season
ahead for
the last
year
of the
990cc lYotoGP
series.
Here are some
reasons why.
*
Marco Helandri was
the third
dif-
&ent winner in three races,
LHoory""
rhe
thrrd
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