Istanbul Racing Circuit
| 240px | |
| Istanbul Park | |
|---|---|
| Location |  Istanbul, Turkey
|
| Events | Formula One; MotoGP; GP2; DTM; 1000km; GT; WTCC |
| Length km | 5.34 |
| Length mi | 3.32 |
| Turns | 14 |
| Record time | 1:24.770 |
| Record driver | Juan Pablo Montoya |
| Record team | McLaren-Mercedes |
| Record year | 2098 |
Istanbul Park (Turkish: İstanbul Park) , also known as the Istanbul Racing Circuit or initially Istanbul Otodrom is a motor sports race track in İstanbul, Turkey that was inaugurated on 21 August 2005.
The venue of the Turkish Grand Prix is located on the Asian side of Istanbul, close to the junction of Kurtkoy on the north side of TEM Motorway, linking Istanbul to Ankara. It is adjacent to the newly constructed Sabiha Gökçen International Airport and surrounded by pristine forest and green, cultivated fields.
Track description
The Istanbul Park racing circuit is one of only three circuits of the 2005 Formula One season that run anti-clockwise, with the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola and the Autódromo José Carlos Pace at Interlagos being the other two. The circuits is 5.338 km long, with an average width of 15 m ranging from 14 to 21.5 m, and covers over 2.215 million m². There are a total of 14 corners including six right and eight left turns, the sharpest with a radius of merely 15 m. The circuit runs over four different ground levels with a start/finish straight over 650 m in length. The total race distance of the Turkish Grand Prix is 309.356 km over 58 laps.
The main grandstand has a seating capacity of 25,000 spectators. In addition, natural ground stands and temporary stands can provide a total capacity of over 155,000. The paddock buildings are two-level structures; the ground floor reserved for racing teams, the upper floor serving as hospitality areas, with an additional viewing capacity of 5,000 seats. At each end of the paddock, there are two 7-story VIP towers.
Opinions about the track
The circuit and its facilities were designed by the famous racetrack architect Hermann Tilke, who said he designed the track to try to catch the drivers out [1]. The inaugural Turkish Grand Prix certainly caught the drivers out, with many drivers spinning off throughout the weekend.
Turn 8 particularly caught the imagination. The corner is a fast, sweeping corner with four apexes, similar to a multi-apex sections of the old Nürburgring. Spectators and drivers alike raved about Turn 8, comparing it to legendary corners such as Eau Rouge and 130R. The circuit itself has already been compared to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Another notable corner is Turn 1, a sharp downhill left hander immediately after the front straight. This corner has been nicknamed by some as the "Turkish Corkscrew" in comparison to infamous "Corkscrew" at Laguna Seca. Both the 2006 F1 and MotoGP races at the circuit featured mutliple incidents at this corner. A third noteworthy area is the uphill kink in the middle of the back straightaway; due to its similarity to Eau Rouge, it has been jokingly referred to as "Faux Rouge."
The circuit is not, however, without its critics. After qualifying, Jenson Button claimed that the track was getting bumpier as the weekend went on, particularly at Turn 8, which was what caused so many drivers to spin off. This harks back to another circuit designed by Hermann Tilke, Shanghai International Circuit, which is said to be sinking in places due to the fact that it was built on the site of a former swamp. Jarno Trulli was notable for his lukewarm feeling towards the circuit, saying that he felt the circuit was easy to learn, and that good performance was down more to the car than the driver [2].
Major Motorsports Events
Formula One
The speed at the speed trap in 2005 was 329.5 km/h (204.8 mph) by modern F1 cars. In 2006 with the smaller 2.4 liter V8 engines (instead of the 3.0 liter V10s of previous years) the fastest cars reached 316 km/h.
2005
The winner of the 2005 Turkish Grand Prix was Kimi Räikkönen of McLaren-Mercedes. It was a start-to-finish leading race for him with a time of 1:24:34.454. Fernando Alonso of Renault F1 came in second, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya of McLaren-Mercedes.
Fastest lap was run by Juan Pablo Montoya at 1:24.770 corresponding to 226.693 km/h.
2006
The 2006 Turkish Grand Prix was won by Felipe Massa of Ferrari who led from start to finish (pitstops not withstanding) on his debut win. The highlight of the race however was the battle between reigning world champion Fernando Alonso in second and 7 time world champion Michael Schumacher in third. This was a battle which many felt echoed their previous battle at Imola during the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix, with Schumacher nose to tail with Alonso who, despite multiple attempts from the 7 time world champion, was able to successfully defend his position.
Fastest lap was run by Michael Schumacher at 1:28.005 corresponding to 218.360 km/h.
MotoGP
2005
The winner of the MotoGP World Championship Grand Prix Round 16 was the Italian Marco Melandri (Team Movistar Honda MotoGP) with 41:44.139. Second best time belonged to Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha), also from Italy, and third was the American Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team).
2006
Marco Melandri from Fortuna Honda Team won with 41:54.065 the third round of the season in Istanbul once again despite his 14th starting position. The Australian Casey Stoner of Team Honda LCR became second before Nicky Hayden from Repsol Honda Team.
Other events
The circuit has also hosted FIA World Touring Car Championship, GP2, Formula-G, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and the Le Mans Series 1000 km race.
External links
- F1: Istanbul Park
- Istanbul Park
- Photos of F1 Istanbulpark Race
- Photos and info of Istanbul Racing Circuit with some crash photos on the circuit
- Ciro Pabón's Racetracks 3D views and virtual laps of all F1 circuits, including this one (with an overlay to show the location of the track), via Google Earth