ROUND 11/SEPTEMBER 15, 2013
INTERCITY ISTANBUL PARK/ISTANBUL, TURKEY
WORLD SUPERBIKE
P92
WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
Sykes (66) leads Marco Melandri (33) and Sylvain Guintoli (50).
Melandri came away with second in race one and fourth in race
two; Guintoli was fourth and third in the two races.
EASTERN PREMISE
There is so much to comuntil the action started, then mulmend the Intercity Istanbul
tiple riders fell in the opening sesPark circuit it is difficult to
sion, breaking bones and teams'
know where to start. Massive
hearts, and pulling significant
in scale, on track and off, with
numbers from an already sparse
a huge paddock, a modern
grid.
build and a uniquely eastern
The problem with big tracks
feel to the architecture that
lined with big grandstands is that
you could be nowhere else
when they are empty they echo
but Asia. Even if you are only
with the same kind of incongrujust in Asia, nestling a few
ence of a nightclub at noon.
minaret calls from the very
Circuits need crowds to come
edge of Europe.
to life - however stunning the
The Intercity Istanbul Park
Holding big scale races in Istanbul is circuit is definitely expansive. facility may be, or how good the action is
nothing new, as MotoGP was in Turkey
on track.
from 2005 to 2007, and the daddy of
Istanbul holds many attractions as a
them all, Formula One, raced here from 2005 to 2011.
modern, fast and safe venue, but on day one the main atIt seemed a long time ago that anything like racing
mosphere was provided by the marshals, who had come
was held at the track - when Dorna found dogs on the
in from their labors under the hot sun to congregate in
circuit and had to stop the first session, realized there
the area under the media center and race control - filling
was dust all over the track after being cleaned on the eve the previous canyon-like emptiness of most of the padof first practice, and repetitive requests for even basic
dock with life, chatter and vibrancy.
things that needed doing were unheeded.
On race day a crowd turned up and went duly berserk
Since its last racing use, the track has been used to
when Kenan Sofuoglu won the close World Supersport
park rental cars.
race, so job done in making it a race day with atmoEverybody was happy to be racing in a new territory
sphere, in parts at least.
