Bridgestone preview of the Turkish GP - 16th August 18:38pm GMT

Bridgestone Motorsport is eagerly looking forward to this weekend's Round Fourteen of the FIA Formula One World Championship, which will take place for the first time on the outskirts of Istanbul, Turkey. After a break of two weekends in the calendar, Bridgestone and its teams are keen to finish the 19-race season on a high after what has been a hard fought season so far.

Michael Schumacher and his Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello currently lie third and seventh respectively in the Drivers' Championship standings while Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro are third in the Constructors' Championship.

The new circuit outside Istanbul has been the talk of much speculation as teams and tyre manufacturers alike have poured over maps and simulation data ahead of this weekend's big event. In 2004, a Bridgestone driver won the inaugural races in Bahrain and Shanghai, both new circuits on the calendar and the Bridgestone Motorsport team is keen to keep up the record of winning on new territory.

Hiroshi Yasukawa, Director of Motorsport:
"The addition of the Turkish Grand Prix is a very exciting one. Turkey is a country with both European and Asian roots and a country of considerable potential. The Bridgestone Corporation first entered the Turkish market in 1988 under the name of Brisa Bridgestone Sabanci Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., a partnership with the Sabanci Group."

"Brisa now has extensive car, 4x4, truck, bus and off-road tyre production facilities and is a market leader. Consequently I am delighted that Bridgestone Motorsport will be in Turkey this week with its Formula One partner teams to showcase our F1 technology in such an important market."

Tyres for Turkey (5.34 km)
Bridgestone Motorsport's Formula One Potenza tyres will arrive in Turkey this week after being flown from Tokyo, Japan where they have been produced in Bridgestone's F1 tyre production facility. The tyres for Turkey will consist of two dry, grooved specifications for each team and the same wet weather and extreme wet weather specification for all Bridgestone teams.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager:
"This weekend's Turkish Grand Prix will present us with an exciting new challenge as we tackle the only new track on the calendar this year. We have been working very closely with our teams, using simulation techniques to assess the demands of the track. We hope we can be as successful as we have been in the past on new tracks."

"It does seem that some of the corners will be long and fast, putting a high load on the tyres for a relatively long period of time. We can also expect temperatures to be high, perhaps in the region of 50 degrees Celcius on track. The track surface should be smooth but from a tyre point of view, it will be tough. Consequently, we are taking tyres from our medium to hard compound range."