The all-new Istanbul Speed Park circuit is located about 50 miles east of the city on the Asian side of the Bosporus. Designed by German track specialist, Herman Tilke, the circuit features 75,000 seats and earth banking for a further 50,000 stamding spectators. From the drivers perspective the circuit offers both a number of challenging corners and several changes in gradient, being built on four different levels. It is the third ciruit on the calendar to run anticlockwise, the others being Imola and Interlagos. It has taken nearly two years to complete, and covers over two million square metres. Until now the F1 circus has had two ways of getting to the circuits: flying in a fleet of specially chartered aircraft to the fly-away races, or driving from their various headquarters to the European races. Turkey brings with it a third mode of transport, the teams sending their equipment by sea from Italy. A lap of the Istanbul circuit, described by Pedro de la Rosa, runs as follows: A lap of the Istanbul Speed Park will begin on the long start-finish straight, before braking hard for Turn 1 which is a 90ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâú sharp left hander. The track then drops steeply downhill on a short run before flicking you right through turn two, which should be easy flat. The circuit then curves gently to the right before reaching a slow left-right-left section, where the middle right hander is very tight, slow and it drops very steeply on its apex. Accelerating out, there is a short straight that leads to a wide right hand hairpin, Turn 7. After this corner there is another short straight before entering probably the most difficult corner of this track which is a triple apex left hander, which is extremely fast and will see us under load for a long time. This swings you round onto another straight, followed by a slow left right chicane at turns nine and ten, which takes you onto the back section of the circuit, two long straights punctuated in the middle by a sweeping right bend which will easily be taken flat. We will reach the highest speeds on the circuit along here and it will be the best overtaking area of the whole circuit. You will need to brake very hard at the end of this long straight for the tight left-right-left complex at the end of the track that will bring you back onto the start-finish straight.
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