Turkish GP: Michelin race notes

MICHELIN OUT OF LUCK IN TURKISH GRAND PRIX

Reigning World Champion Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team RC212V-Michelin) was Michelin's top finisher in an unlucky Turkish Grand Prix for the French tyre brand. The American was involved in a titanic battle for third place, eventually finishing in seventh spot, just 2.1 seconds outside the top three.

Michelin's other main hopes for success at Istanbul were all out of luck after monopolising the front row in yesterday's qualifying session. Colin Edwards (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC212V-Michelin) were innocent victims of a first lap pile-up, while Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) suffered from rear-tyre vibration. Rossi, who had won the previous race in Spain, ended the race in tenth spot after running second during the early stages. He now lies second in the World Championship.

"Today's result was partly bad luck for us," explained Jean-Philippe Weber, Michelin's director of motorcycle racing. "We had four riders who could fight up front and on the first lap we lost Colin and Dani, which left Valentino and Nicky. Valentino had a vibration problem with his rear tyre, which started after half-distance, so only Nicky could do consistent lap times all through the race.

"We think that these four riders all had good tyre choices and we expected at least two of them to finish on the podium. Dani was fast all weekend and Colin and Valentino were also in good shape. Three Ducatis finished up front, we always knew top speed would be important here and it will be even more important at the next race at Shanghai, that's why we always expected two tough races. Anyway, we have to work more on our tyres and we test here tomorrow to learn more."

-credit: michelin