KONICA MINOLTA Honda made a significant improvement during today’s qualifying session for the Turkish GP, which will be held here at the Istanbul Park circuit tomorrow afternoon. Following a tough first day with technical problems and a crash, team rider Shinya Nakano shaved almost three seconds off his time to qualify in a hard-fought 12th place. Qualifying was another tight affair, with just a second covering 5th placed Loris Capirossi to 18th-placed Kenny Roberts Junior. The fact that none of the teams have tested at Istanbul Park and the changeable temperatures over the weekend has left a big question mark over what tyres to use for tomorrow’s 22-lap race.
Gianluca Montiron – Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA Honda
“After a difficult day yesterday we have made a significant improvement today. Thanks to the time we lost yesterday, we had a lot of work to do and just in the final part of qualifying we found some good settings and I think Shinya was able to push a little bit harder with the softer qualifying tyre. Overall, he did a good job for us today. I think we will see a very exciting race tomorrow and warm-up will be important for us and many other teams as they refine settings further. It is hard to overtake here, so getting a good start and a good line into the first corner will be important. I think many teams and riders are in the same situation as regards the new tyre regulations – tomorrow’s weather and track temperatures will be all important as to what we choose to run with in the race. ”
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