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Desmodromically delirious
Seems like a long time ago but what a weekend of MotoGP for Ducati at Istanbul !. Three Ducs in the top four finishers.
Quite an interesting trip, if anyone's tempted to go next year, and I'd certainly recommend it. A bit of a longish journey ( 6 hrs by Luftwaffe from Edinburgh via Frankfurt) although we met Frederico Minoli on the second leg of the flight. Accommodation in Istanbul is cheap (£20 a night sharing a twin room in a 4 star) and the weekend passes to the circuit cost a staggering £9. Public transport to the circuit by ferry and bus cost £3 return. A beer and a kebab costs a whopping £2.50, but we managed to eke out the kitty for the weekend. Apart from the flight tickets (£200) that was not bad for a weekend of MotoGP.
As you'll have seen from TV, the track and facilities are superb. The final three corners are where all the action was and the sound of the bikes braking into the hairpin after the fast right-hander was phenomenal - like a squadron of Stuka dive-bombers, and the Ducs did not disgrace us, being as loud as any of them !. The 800s have a higher-pitched sound than the 990s but still get the hairs on the back of your neck up.
The only disappointing bit was the lack of a big crowd and big race atmosphere. It's obviously not that popular in Turkey, though I suspect a lot of that is down to bad marketing and organisation (their official ticketing website didn't let you buy tickets and must have put off a lot of people, though we bought ours at the circuit).
There you go then. If you fancy an interesting trip next year to watch MotoGP then Istanbul's worth a thought. You could probably bike it there and back too if you take a week to do it.
Quite an interesting trip, if anyone's tempted to go next year, and I'd certainly recommend it. A bit of a longish journey ( 6 hrs by Luftwaffe from Edinburgh via Frankfurt) although we met Frederico Minoli on the second leg of the flight. Accommodation in Istanbul is cheap (£20 a night sharing a twin room in a 4 star) and the weekend passes to the circuit cost a staggering £9. Public transport to the circuit by ferry and bus cost £3 return. A beer and a kebab costs a whopping £2.50, but we managed to eke out the kitty for the weekend. Apart from the flight tickets (£200) that was not bad for a weekend of MotoGP.
As you'll have seen from TV, the track and facilities are superb. The final three corners are where all the action was and the sound of the bikes braking into the hairpin after the fast right-hander was phenomenal - like a squadron of Stuka dive-bombers, and the Ducs did not disgrace us, being as loud as any of them !. The 800s have a higher-pitched sound than the 990s but still get the hairs on the back of your neck up.
The only disappointing bit was the lack of a big crowd and big race atmosphere. It's obviously not that popular in Turkey, though I suspect a lot of that is down to bad marketing and organisation (their official ticketing website didn't let you buy tickets and must have put off a lot of people, though we bought ours at the circuit).
There you go then. If you fancy an interesting trip next year to watch MotoGP then Istanbul's worth a thought. You could probably bike it there and back too if you take a week to do it.
