DUCATI MARLBORO MAN CHECA IN THE TOP SIX AT ISTANBUL CIRCUIT
21 October 2005 - Ducati Marlboro Team

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Carlos Checa had Shinichi Ito enjoyed their first taste of the Istanbul Park circuit in fine weather conditions

Checa featured strongly in the final analysis of the first day. Substitute rider Ito worked his way back into the rigours of the Grand Prix paddock, stepping up from his regular testing duties for the team''s tyre supplier, Bridgestone.

At the very end of the second session of practice, Checa pushed himself to an initial fifth position, only deposed one place after the last riders had completed their final laps. Having never even seen the all-new circuit before arriving in Istanbul, Checa made full use of an extended first session of practice, which was of 90 minutes duration, not the usual 60.

Ito, standing in for injured regular Ducati Marlboro rider Loris Capirossi, went 16th fastest out of 19 riders, feeling his way back into the Grand Prix paddock step-by-step.

''We can jokingly say that we have to find out when the Gresini team came here to test, as they are so fast right from the start!'' said Ducati MotoGP Project Manager Livio Suppo. ''It is a strange day all round with such a big gap between the first two riders and the rest. On our side, we are trying to learn the circuit as quickly as possible. I think Carlos found a reasonable set-up at the end of the sessions, so tomorrow we can work around that some more. Ito is working properly with the team.''

CHECA ENJOYS NEW MOTOGP VENUE
Checa made great strides in the one-hour afternoon session, running out sixth fastest overall, with the single session of official qualifying still to come on Saturday afternoon.

''Today we went to the new track for the first time, and it is a nice venue, technical and difficult,'' said Checa. ''It is fun to ride. We began to work on the set up of the bike to adapt it as soon as possible. We tested a variety of Bridgestone tyres and in the end we found a good compromise, especially regarding the back tyre. That allowed me to be faster at the end. We are still missing something in some points, but tomorrow we will test more front tyres to see if they will allow me to take the corners faster. So far, I am pretty satisfied with the rear tyre and I will make a long distance test tomorrow.''

ITO WORKS STEADILY TO MAKE PROGRESS
Two new experiences for Ito - his first MotoGP race weekend for Ducati and his first exposure to an all-new circuit - were taken in the stride of the experienced Japanese pilot.
''I did not push too much today as it is my first time at this track,'' said Ito, ''but it''s the same for everybody. The bike feels a bit different from the one I normally use in testing, so I spent most of my time trying to get a balance for the bike and working with the tyres. This track is also quite difficult, because there are so many different corners, so I need to learn it a bit more. There are some slower sections and then some much faster corners.''

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