April 23, 200719 yr Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park Sunday April 22, 2007 ELIAS FIGHTS TO SECOND, DANI TAKEN OUT ON LAP ONE A dramatic MotoGP race unfolded in front of a 40,000 crowd here at Istanbul Park with Casey Stoner (Ducati) winning from Toni Elias (Gresini Honda RC212V) with Loris Capirossi (Ducati) third. But a first lap incident took Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) out of the race. Elias started from 10th on the grid after a mediocre qualifying performance, but his race efforts were huge and he willed himself through the field to the podium although he could not catch the runaway Stoner. In sunny conditions with negligible wind, 23 degrees ambient temperature and the track gradually warming up throughout the day to 38 degrees, the conditions were set for a full throttle encounter over 22-laps of this demanding 5.430km track. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who struggled to reach the flag in tenth at the end, got the holeshot from the lights and led the pack into the tricky off-camber, downhill left that is turn one. His team-mate Colin Edwards was in close pursuit along with Stoner and Capirossi. But there was to be drama on this opening lap. First leader Rossi ran wide on the exit of the high-speed uphill turn 11 slipping down the order to fifth. But behind him into the final three-turn complex, chaos ensued as Olivier Jacque (Kawasaki) clipped Pedrosa
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