Turkish Grand Prix: 27 Aug
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Loaction: Istanbul Park, Istanbul
Raceday: Sunday, 27 Aug 2006
Time: 2000 (+8 GMT)
2005 winner: K Raikonnen
Number of laps: 58
Circuit length: 5.378 Km
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Turkey made its debut on the Formula One calendar in 2005 with an all-new purpose-built circuit in Istanbul. The spectacular 5.378 kilometre track is designed by famed German architect Hermann Tilke, the man behind Sepang, Bahrain and Shanghai, and features 14 turns - eight lefts and six rights - with the cars reaching speeds of up to 330 km/h.
An unusual feature of the venue is that the lap runs anti-clockwise, making the Turkish Grand Prix only the third race on the calendar to do so (San Marino and Brazil are the other two). It possesses a wide variety of corners, and while perhaps not as technical as, say, Shanghai, it definitely provides the drivers with real challenge, especially given the reduced downforce available from 2005.
The character of the circuit is further enhanced by plenty of gradients - the track is built on four different ground levels. There may be fewer obvious overtaking opportunities than at some other Tilke circuits - it doesn't feature the long straights followed by tight hairpins that characterise the likes of Sepang and Shanghai - but the potential for a driver under pressure to make a mistake here means no shortage of passing.
As you'd expect from a new venue, spectator facilities are impressive - organisers knew they had to rival the very high standards set by Bahrain and China in 2004. Seating capacity is around 130,000, with 25,000 of those in the main grandstand, and parking is available for 12,000 cars. Dominating the circuit's skyline are two seven-floor VIP towers at either end of the paddock. -
TURKISH GP GRID
1. MASSA Ferrari
2. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari
3. ALONSO Renault
4. FISICHELLA Renault
5. HEIDFELD BMW
6. BUTTON Honda
7. RAIKKONEN McLaren
8. KUBICA BMW
9. WEBBER Williams
10. KLIEN Red Bull
11. DE LA ROSA McLaren
12. TRULLI Toyota
13. BARRICHELLO Honda
14. ROSBERG Williams
15. R.SCHUMACHER Toyota*
16. COULTHARD Red Bull
17. SPEED Toro Rosso
18. LIUZZI Toro Rosso
19. MONTEIRO Midland
20. YAMAMOTO Super Aguri
21. SATO Super Aguri
22. ALBERS Midland*
* demoted 10 places for engine change -
Chalk another one up for Alonso. The Ferrari was clearly faster, but thank goodness somebody's finally come about who's not going to roll over when he sees Scum in the mirrors. Monza last year, Turkey this year, it's time we got decent drivers with spine.
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Turkish Grand Prix results:
Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
Drivers' standings:
1 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 58 1:28:51.082 1 10
2 1 Fernando Alonso Renault 58 +5.5 secs 3 8
3 5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 58 +5.6 secs 2 6
4 12 Jenson Button Honda 58 +12.3 secs 6 5
5 4 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 58 +45.9 secs 11 4
6 2 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 58 +46.5 secs 4 3
7 7 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 58 +59.3 secs 15 2
8 11 Rubens Barrichello Honda 58 +60.0 secs 13 1
9 8 Jarno Trulli Toyota 57 +1 Lap 12
10 9 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 57 +1 Lap 9
11 15 Christian Klien RBR-Ferrari 57 +1 Lap 10
12 17 Robert Kubica Sauber-BMW 57 +1 Lap 12
13 21 Scott Speed STR-Cosworth 57 +1 Lap 17
14 16 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-BMW 56 +2 Laps 5
15 14 David Coulthard RBR-Ferrari 55 +3 Laps 16
Ret 19 Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota 46 Accident 22
NC 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 41 +17 Laps 21
Ret 10 Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 25 Water pressure 14
Ret 23 Sakon Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda 23 Spin 20
Ret 20 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Cosworth 12 Spin 18
Ret 3 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1 Accident 7
Ret 18 Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota 0 Accident 19Pos Driver Nationality Team Points
Constructors' standings:
1 Fernando Alonso Spanish Renault 108
2 Michael Schumacher German Ferrari 96
3 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 62
4 Giancarlo Fisichella Italian Renault 52
5 Kimi Räikkönen Finnish McLaren-Mercedes 49
6 Jenson Button British Honda 36
7 Juan Pablo Montoya Colombian McLaren-Mercedes 26
8 Rubens Barrichello Brazilian Honda 22
9 Nick Heidfeld German Sauber-BMW 19
10 Ralf Schumacher German Toyota 18
11 Pedro de la Rosa Spanish McLaren-Mercedes 14
11= David Coulthard British RBR-Ferrari 14
13 Jarno Trulli Italian Toyota 10
14 Jacques Villeneuve Canadian Sauber-BMW 7
15 Mark Webber Australian Williams-Cosworth 6
16 Nico Rosberg German Williams-Cosworth 4
17 Christian Klien Austrian RBR-Ferrari 2
18 Vitantonio Liuzzi Italian STR-Cosworth 1Pos Constructor Points
1 Renault 160
2 Ferrari 158
3 McLaren-Mercedes 89
4 Honda 58
5 Toyota 28
6 Sauber-BMW 26
7 RBR-Ferrari 16
8 Williams-Cosworth 10
9 STR-Cosworth 1
