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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.
April 2007 |
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“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.”
Contacts
Isabelle LARIVIERE
MichelinMotoGP Press Officer
20, rue Henri Regnault
75014 PARIS-France
Mob:+33(0) 6 70 31 63 34
Tel:+33(0) 1 40 52 17 23
Fax:+33(0) 1 40 52 17 18
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