Ducati Marlboro Team rider Carlos Checa battled hard to take a top five placing in the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park, recovering from 11th place at the end of lap one to earn 11 more championship points, after 22-laps of the high-speed 5.340km circuit.

Shinichi Ito, riding as a replacement for the injured Loris Capirossi, finished the first lap in 14th place, but was signalled to undertake a pitlane ride-through penalty after jump-starting. Failing to do so, he was shown the black flag and was forced to retire after lap six, and excluded from the race results.

Checa pushed hard in the first period of the race, moving to fifth on lap seven, and keeping a safe gap to the riders behind as the laps counted down to a finish. He sits ninth in the championship, with one race remaining, having scored a total of 125 points thus far.



"Carlos did the best job possible today, so thanks to him," said Ducati MotoGP Project Manager Livio Suppo. "After an imperfect start he recovered very well and made some good laps. Unfortunately it was not possible for him to keep that rhythm all the way through. Together with Bridgestone we have to work on this circuit, as there are still some things to do. We are in a learning season and at some circuits we are really good and others we still have work to do. But fifth position today is a good result."
CHECA FIGHTS FOR EVERY PLACE
Some tough riding from other competitors left Checa with work to do after the first lap but the Spanish rider pushed to the end, even when he was unable to repeat his early times nearer the finish.
"My position at the start was not the best and some of the other riders were really aggressive," said Checa. "This is racing but I made a quick recovery. I got a good pace but I could not keep it. We lost some grip towards the end and I had to slow. Other riders started closing from behind so I pushed hard to keep my position safe. I was controlling the gap to the rider behind, but trying to catch Sete Gibernau up ahead was impossible. I think we did the maximum we could with the package we had here, so I am satisfied for that, even if we need to push to improve next time. The aim for me this weekend was to finish top five and that is what we got."

ITO EXCLUDED AFTER BRIGHT START
Despite setting the highest top speed of the race, at 305.2kmph, Ito's eventual exclusion lost him a good chance of scoring points, leaving him disappointed with his afternoon's work.
"I did not think I jumped the start," stated Ito. " And when I saw the black flag I pulled in. I'm unhappy about it but there is nothing I can do. The bike and tyres were OK, and I felt very comfortable on the bike: I am so disappointed that I couldn't complete the race. I would like to thank all the guys that have helped me - the team and the sponsors - for this fantastic opportunity".