“The difficult thing over the next two races is going to be horsepower, because both Istanbul and Shanghai have very long straights. We tried some new things at the Jerez test to improve this and I know that Yamaha have been working very hard in Japan so hopefully we will have a little bit of improvement in this area when we get to Turkey”, said Rossi ahead of the Turkish GP.
It's no secret that power was obviously something that Rossi's bike lacked in season's opener at Losail. Despite being more aggressive in the corners, Rossi lost valuable time in the straight sections to Ducati's Casey Stoner. Yamaha has been trying to solve that problem and it seems that the Turkish GP will see a much quicker Rossi on the straights.
Ahead of the practice sessions on Friday, most of the riders expressed their dislikes of the Turkish circuit. Rossi was one of them, as the Italian doesn't hold too many good memories from the past 2 races. He failed to beat fellow compatriot Marco Melandri in 2005 and only came 4th in last year's event. Being that Turkey, China and USA (Laguna Seca) are the only places where Rossi is yet to feel the winning taste, we should expect a mush determined race from the 5-time world champion.
“The next two races, Turkey and China, are ones that I don't like so much and I have never won at Istanbul, but it's a great circuit with some very fast corners. I think not winning here comes because we have always come to Turkey under strange conditions. We were at the end of the season in 2005 and were experiencing problems with the M1 in 2006”, concluded Rossi at the press conference on Thursday.
Rossi will most likely not have to fight circuit's specialist Marco Melandri for the win, since the 2-times Turkish GP winner seems to be facing difficulties with his bike this start of the season. Melandri admitted that a podium would be “a good result considering the difficult circumstances I find myself in now”. He will use a 2006-spec front suspension unit for his bike this weekend.
In the Riders Point Standings, Rossi is currently in the lead, holding a 9-point advantage over Ducati's Casey Stoner and Honda's Dani Pedrosa. Yamaha is also the team to beat in the Constructors' Point Standings, as the Japanese manufacturer is 9 points clear of Ducati and Honda on top of the table.
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