In the presence of Pirelli’s President Marco Tronchetti Provera, the PZero tyres set a time just two-tenths of a second off last year’s pole time during the afternoon free practice session at Istanbul today. The fastest time was set by the soft tyre, but the drivers also had the chance to try out the new evolution of hard tyre. In the...

Istanbul Park was the scene of Formula 1’s return to the racetrack today after a three-week break in the calendar. The first free practice session began in wet conditions as Virgin Racing rolled out its new upgrade package, with Timo Glock’s MVR-02 featuring the full specification and Jérôme D'Ambrosio’s car having...

On the first day of practice sessions in Istanbul Park, the drivers went up against a mix of weather conditions, with a wet track due to the rain. Both the Hispania Racing Team cars came out in the first session with wet tyres. In the afternoon session, the track dried up thanks to the sun that made itself present now and again and the drivers...

The Guardian

F1 2011 Turkish Grand Prix qualifying: Hamilton's target Times 24 FORMULA 1 star Lewis Hamilton is gunning for a podium finish in this weekend's 2011 Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park. To send a link to this page to a friend, simply enter their email address below ... Vettel crashes out in wet Turkish practiceCNN International Button's ready to shine in the rainMirror.co.uk VETTEL'S SOS TO WEBBERHerald Sun Telegraph.co.uk -Motor Authority (blog) -SPEEDtv.com all 1,175 news articles »

autosport.com

Formula 1 drivers hope they can continue racing at Istanbul Park in the future The Canadian Press ISTANBUL — Formula One drivers hope they will not be competing at the Turkish Grand Prix for the last time this weekend. Doubts were raised that Turkey may not host a race next year, after the head of Istanbul's Chamber of Commerce, Murat Yalcintas, ... DHL the official title sponsor of 2011 Turkish race 06 May 2011Formula 1 2011 Turkey GP: Renault Formula One (F1) Race PreviewPaddockTalk 2011 Formula 1 Turkish Grand Prix PreviewMotor Authority (blog) autosport.com -F1SA -ESPN STAR Sports all 45 news articles »

Davide Valsecchi has been handed a 10-place grid penalty for the GP2 season opener in at Istanbul Park

Turkey shows we would do well to remember the dwindling art of hospitality

As I walked along the European bank of the Bosphorus, a small group of fisherman were coming to the end of their dinner. They called me over, offering me grapes and raki, and I explained in my smattering of Turkish what I was up to. "Londra, Istanbul," slap legs, mime walking. "Sekiz ay" ("eight months").

Throughout my whole journey I had been offered hospitality to an extent I could never have imagined before I left. I had been invited to sleep in people's homes, in bars, in barns, in churches and in mosques. I was fed in restaurants and at mountain passes. I was given friendship and support at times when I really needed it.

Yet I assumed I would have been anonymous in a city of 13 million people. But as we finished eating they told me proudly that the only way to see their city was from the water, and invited me out in their boat. For Muslims, they told me, the duty of hospitality is not a duty only to the stranger, but one to God.

One intention I had when I began, 3,500 miles earlier, was to challenge the culture of fear, the distrust of strangers, that seems to be a given in a world where we are increasingly denied the opportunity to interact with the unknown. With its speed and its fear, our culture robs people of the very chance to offer hospitality. Walking through villages, I felt like a rare beast and found people almost eager to invite me into their houses, to hear my story and to tell me theirs.

As I walked I came to see that under this modern, paranoid veneer, beyond the oxymoronic idea of a "hospitality industry", there is a core of hospitality which is very much alive. Sites on the internet that offer hospitality are increasingly popular – CouchSurfing now has more than two million members. Yet the opportunities to connect with strangers on their journeys are few, and they are decreasing. I know of no better way than a pilgrimage, secular or not, to remind us that we are dependent upon strangers.

In the Bible, the word often translated as "hospitality" is the Greek philoxenia, a love of strangers. And this goes both ways, for in a hospitable relationship each is a stranger unto the other – it is about recognising both the other within oneself, and oneself in the other. The exchange feels to be something reciprocal in a way that is hard to pin down. We share a conversation, a friendship, the age-old human act of two people connecting over a gift. Furthermore, it does not feel to be a one-off exchange but more the continuation, or a recommencement, of a circle of hospitality which increasingly needs refreshing to maintain it.

Certainly hospitality is full of contradiction – turning your home over to someone else, the risk that entails. But as Jacques Derrida explored in his work, it is this very impossibility of defining its parameters that maintains it as an act which is vital and open. It is not an intellectual concept – it has meaning only in the doing.

We no longer seem to speak of good risks, of risks worth taking. Instead we attempt to control as much as possible. We do this, perversely, by destroying practices like hospitality that truly keep us safe. We can never know where the act of hospitality will lead us. As it says in Hebrews (13:2): "Forget not to shew love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." We would do well to open our doors more often.

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Formula 1

DHL the official title sponsor of 2011 Turkish race 06 May 2011 Formula 1 DHL, the world's leading logistics company and Official Logistics Partner of Formula 1™, has been officially announced as the title sponsor of this weekend's Istanbul race, which is now referred to as the 2011 FORMULA 1 DHL TURKISH GRAND PRIX. ... My tryst with Formula 1- A Tale of an Indian FanKeeda of Sports all 3 news articles »

Charles Coates/LAT Photographic F1 heads to the crossroads between Asia and Europe this weekend. The Turkish Grand Prix sets off at the Istanbul Park Circuit, a 3.3-mile, 14-turn course. Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel still sits atop the...

Heavy rain meant Williams were forced to wait until the afternoon practice session to test the new aero parts that they have brought to Turkey in a bid to kick-start their faltering season. As well as a damp track in the morning session, the team also had to contend with further KERS problems and a couple of crashes from rookie Pastor...

Paul Hembery: "We've been delighted to welcome Mr Tronchetti to Istanbul, on what has been a historic day for Pirelli. We've seen our intermediate and wet tyres take to the track for the first time, and as we confirmed when we tested in the wet at Istanbul Park last month, these tyres are extremely effective even in the soaking conditions we...

A wet Friday practice session in Istanbul today provided the first chance for the teams to use the new Pirelli wet and intermediate tyre, which have been described as ‘extremely effective' by Motorsport Director Paul Hembery. 'We’ve seen our intermediate and wet tyres take to the track for the first time, and as we confirmed when we...

Eurosport.com AU

F1 Sofa Blog – Friday press conference in Istanbul girlracer Following on from recent news that Sky is interested in buying Formula 1, Martin Whitmarsh was asked about FOTA's stance on pay-per-view grands prix on television. “I think it's clear that the business model of all the teams relies on free-to-air,” the ... F1 : 2011 Turkey - Istanbul Friday FIA Formula 1 press conferenceF1SA all 18 news articles »

Independent Online

F1 : 2011 Turkey - HRT F1 - Istanbul Formula 1 Friday report F1SA Formula One report - On the first day of practice sessions in Istanbul Park, the drivers went up against a mix of weather conditions. With a wet track due to the rain, both Hispania Racing cars came out in the first session with wet tyres and in the ... Turkish GP: The test of the Pirelli tyresESPN STAR Sports Pirelli wants tyre allocation changeYahoo! Eurosport UK Turkish Grand Prix: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - Day 1 Practice ReportAuto Racing Daily all 56 news articles »

The Hindu

VETTEL'S SOS TO WEBBER Herald Sun Formula 1: THE tables have turned for a day at Formula 1 team Red Bull, with Sebastian Vettel needing Mark Webber's help after crashing his car during practice for the Turkish Grand Prix. Vettel will rely on Webber's car data when setting up his own ... DHL the official title sponsor of 2011 Turkish race 06 May 2011Formula 1 Formula 1 drivers hope they can continue racing at Istanbul Park in the futureThe Canadian Press Vettel crashes out in wet Turkish practiceCNN International Telegraph.co.uk -SPEEDtv.com -Motor Authority (blog) all 1,036 news articles »

autosport.com

2011 Turkey GP: Renault Formula One (F1) Race Preview PaddockTalk Do you feel you are coping well with the new additions to F1 this season, namely the Drag Reduction System (DRS) and the return of KERS? Well, like with everything, the more you use it the easier it gets but we're still working on getting the perfect ... Formula 1's top ten corners in 2011autosport.com F1 : 2011 Turkey - Sauber F1 - Istanbul Formula 1 Friday reportF1SA Turkish GP: The dreaded Turn EightESPN STAR Sports Wired (blog) -bettor.com (blog) all 24 news articles »

This city's rooftops and walkways are fertile ground, where countless sets of tables and chairs have sprouted.

Formula 1

Button sets fastest time on Friday in Turkey Motorsport.com Ferrari's Fernando Alonso topped the time sheets in a wet first practice for Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul. It was useful to do some running in the wet because there is a chance that it might rain again at some point tomorrow. ... Practice One - Alonso tops wet Turkish session 06 May 2011Formula 1 F1: Too Early To Judge Our Pace Says AlonsoSPEEDtv.com F1 : 2011 Turkey - Ferrari - Istanbul Formula 1 Friday reportF1SA Planet-F1 -Badger GP -PaddockTalk all 152 news articles »

Sydney Morning Herald

Formula One: Button fastest as Vettel crashes in Turkey AutoWeek Three-time Turkey winner Felipe Massa was sixth, although the feeling inside his Ferrari team was that the latest updates could push the red cars further up the grid in qualifying on Saturday. Fernando Alonso, who lost some track time with niggling ... Turkey preview - let battle resume in Istanbul 06 May 2011Formula 1 Button sets Turkey paceSkySports Formula 1 drivers hope they can continue racing at Istanbul Park in the futureThe Canadian Press Examiner.com -Yahoo! Eurosport UK -Mirror.co.uk all 1,033 news articles »

The newly established UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) will be co-hosting several events at the LDC IV Conference in Istanbul. The events will highlight the contribution of women, particularly rural women, in the least developed countries, and spotlight how best to unlock their economic potential to accelerate development.

DSG Asha-Rose Migiro will leave NY on May 9^th to head to Geneva to chair the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Read more

Take a lap of Istanbul Park with Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Istanbul, Turkey, May 06, 2011

The opening practice sessions for the Turkish Grand Prix took place in contrasting conditions at Istanbul Park today. Morning rain saw the teams using Pirelli wet tyres throughout P1 before the track dried out sufficiently for slicks in P2.


• P1 gave Michael and Nico a valuable opportunity to evaluate the car on the wet tyres for the first time since winter testing
• With a dry track in P2, the team completed initial dry tyre evaluations with the hard and soft compounds
• Nico completed 43 laps and finished the day in second place, with Michael completing 39 laps in fourth position

NICO ROSBERG
“We have made a decent start to the weekend and I am optimistic for tomorrow. We had a productive afternoon and tried a lot of things with the car. I didn’t have too many problems with the tyres on the long run and I was quite surprised by the grip levels, which were higher than I expected. The wet tyres had a lot of grip this morning too. I’m happy with what we learned and expecting a very interesting time tomorrow and on Sunday.”

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER
“We had quite a positive Friday, and it was especially good that we were able to test both wet and dry tyres. I hadn't really driven the wets so I am pleased I finally had some opportunity to use them. Also, my sessions were quite eventful with three spins in Turn 11. All in all, our car confirmed the performance improvement from China, so we can look forward to the rest of the weekend. We still have some questions relating to the set-up but I am confident we will sort them out tomorrow.”

ROSS BRAWN
“We had a reasonably good day and it was nice to get a lot of work done. We had a good opportunity this morning to see what the car was like in the wet conditions. It was also the first time that Michael had really driven the car in the wet, so that’s useful as the conditions this weekend could still be mixed. Then we had a nice dry session this afternoon and completed a lot of work on low and high fuel. The balance of the car isn’t there yet and there is a lot of work ahead, but the team and drivers have worked very well today.”

NORBERT HAUG
“The morning session in the wet saw Nico and Michael complete 32 laps and the lap times on wet tyres looked quite good. In dry conditions this afternoon, we ran 50 laps and worked through our planned programme. I would not read too much into today's positions in both sessions; there is more work to do for tomorrow.”





























* Official photos and report courtesy of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS *
Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Istanbul, Turkey, May 06, 2011

JENSON BUTTON
- MP4-26A-04
- P1 programme: 4 laps, 2m00.666s (+21.996s), 23rd
- P2 programme: 26 laps, 1m26.456s, 1st

“I’m pretty happy with how today went. The car’s been working reasonably well – there are always things you want to improve, but we’ve made some good progress and have a lot of useful data to go through.


“Trying to get the car to ride the bumps well into Turn 12 has been difficult, but we improved it through the session. Turn 12 is really bumpy – it’s like they put a motocross jump in there!

“And Turn Eight’s quite tough too because, depending on your balance, it can damage the front and rear tyres. It’s about getting the balance right, which we concentrated on today.

“We haven’t put everything on the car that we wanted to this weekend, which is disappointing, but we still have some useful upgrades so it’s nice to keep moving forwards.”

LEWIS HAMILTON
- MP4-26A-03
- P1 programme: 1 lap, No time, 24th
- P2 programme: 22 laps, 1m27.033s (+0.577s), 3rd

“We saved tyres during this morning’s session. In the afternoon, despite the limited running in P1, we got quite a lot of our run-plan completed, which was very satisfying.

“I initially struggled a little bit with set-up, which we can look at and fix overnight, but I was really pleased with my long-run pace – I think it was probably one of the best practice long-runs I’ve ever had.

“Generally, our car has a pretty good baseline. We’re still in the fight: the most important factor this weekend is to continue with our consistency – getting on the podium is my target, and if we can win that’ll be even better!”

MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“This morning’s uncharacteristic heavy rain meant that we opted to conserve our supply of Wet and Intermediate Pirelli tyres by sitting out the majority of the session. With cold and unpredictable weather predicted for the remainder of the weekend, and with relatively little to learn from running on a wet track, we felt it was more prudent to save the rubber for Saturday and Sunday.

“Happily, this afternoon’s session turned out drier than we’d imagined, and we were able to pack the majority of our day’s run-programme into P2. Indeed, both drivers’ long-run pace looks extremely promising.

“Lewis and Jenson felt happy with the balance of their cars, although both said that the bumps upon entry to Turn 12 were fairly severe and unsettled the car.

“It’s too early to read anything into this afternoon’s times, but we’re happy that we’ve found a good baseline for the set-up and that we can build upon it for the rest of the weekend.”
















































* Official photos and report courtesy of VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES *

Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Sauber spent the two Friday practice sessions in Istanbul testing new parts for the C30: aerodynamic components with Sergio Perez and mechanical updates with Kamui Kobayashi. Wet weather hampered this testing with extreme wet weathers the only realistic choice for the morning session, and a mixture of wet and intermediate rubber in the...

After rain spoiled Friday's morning session but at least gave some teams experience of running on Pirelli's wets, it dried out at Istanbul Park in the afternoon so that they could all focus on the tricky question of setting up their cars, especially to cope with the bucking-bronco bumps on the 190 mph entry to Turn 12…McLarenJenson Button,...

Daily Mail

F1 : 2011 Turkey - Lotus Renault - Istanbul Formula 1 Friday report F1SA Formula One report - Smoke on the water - Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov kicked off their Turkish campaigns today as free practice got underway at Istanbul Park Circuit. • Nick was able to trial the extreme wets for the first time today. ... F1 Sofa Blog – Thursday press conference in Istanbulgirlracer Heidfeld: Renault can fight big gunsYahoo! Eurosport UK Nick Heidfeld Q&A: Much more to come from RenaultFormula 1 bettor.com (blog) -Bearsden Herald all 53 news articles »

Eurosport.com ASIA

Formula 1: Turkish Grand Prix - Friday Practice Quotes Auto Racing Daily For me it is the first time in an F1 car here and it is sensational.” “We had the wing to try on my car this afternoon, which was quite interesting, but now we have to look at the data and try to really understand it. At the moment it's too early to ... F1 : 2011 Turkey - HRT F1 - Istanbul Formula 1 Friday reportF1SA Turkish GP: The test of the Pirelli tyresESPN STAR Sports Pirelli wants tyre allocation changeYahoo! Eurosport UK all 46 news articles »

Telegraph.co.uk

F1 Champ Sebastian Vettel Crashes During Practice At Wet Turkish GP Motor Authority (blog) Formula 1 championship leader Sebastian Vettel suffered a setback today on day one of practice at the very wet 2011 Turkish Grand Prix, crashing at high speed into a barrier at Istanbul Park Circuit's dreaded Turn Eight, a sharp left-hand corner with ... Formula 1 drivers hope they can continue racing at Istanbul Park in the futureThe Canadian Press Vettel crashes out in wet Turkish practiceCNN International 2011 Turkey GP: Renault Formula One (F1) Race PreviewPaddockTalk Telegraph.co.uk -SPEEDtv.com -Monsters and Critics.com all 1,042 news articles »

BBC Sport

Teams keen for F1 ownership stake Yahoo! Eurosport UK Formula 1 teams are ready to listen to what News Corporation's plans for the future are, saying that ownership of a share in the sport is an ambition they are keen to achieve. Just days after News Corp went public in confirming it was involved in a ... Teams target Formula 1 ownership stakeBBC Sport F1 2011 Turkey – Ferrari – Istanbul Formula 1 Race Preview, McLaren Aims ...Sportz News Teams keen for F1 ownership stakeautosport.com F1SA -Bearsden Herald all 89 news articles »

Jérôme d'Ambrosio has been given a 5-place grid penalty for this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix, with the Belgian driver falling foul of yellow flag rules during the second practice session at Istanbul Park on Friday afternoon.

SkySports

Button backs Turkey to be season template Times of India ISTANBUL: Jenson Button believes the outcome of this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix will be a solid indicator of which teams have the fastest cars for the rest of this year's Formula One world championship. The 2009 champion, who topped the times for ... F1: Button Fastest, Pleased With ProgressSPEEDtv.com Wet weather complicates Turkey for F1 teamsGrandPrix Mercedes chase positives in TurkeyRacers Republic all 93 news articles »

Kansas City Star

Formula One: Vettel loses a day after crash during Turkey GP practice AutoWeek Sebastian Vettel missed the Friday afternoon practice session in Turkey following a heavy crash in the morning's rain-soaked session. By ADAM COOPER on 5/06/2011 Reigning Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel missed the Friday afternoon practice ... Turkey preview - let battle resume in Istanbul 06 May 2011Formula 1 Button sets Turkey paceSkySports 2011 Turkey GP: Renault Formula One (F1) Race PreviewPaddockTalk The Canadian Press -New York Times -Yahoo! Eurosport UK all 1,044 news articles »

Hurriyet Daily News

Turkey Equity Movers: Akbank, Baticim, Dogan Yayin, Garanti Bloomberg Turkey's benchmark ISE National 100 Index (XU100) fell for a third day, dropping 1133.95 or 1.6 percent, to 68240.93 at the 5:30 pm close in Istanbul. It was the biggest decline since ... Turkey Equity Movers: Akbank, Baticim, Dogan Yayin, GarantiSan Francisco Chronicle all 9 news articles »

Aljazeera.net

Kurd rebels claim Turkish convoy attack CNN International Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- A separatist rebel group claimed responsibility Friday for an ambush on a convoy connected with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At the time of the attack Wednesday, Erdogan was not in the convoy, which had been ... PKK leader threatens Turkey with 'great war'Aljazeera.net Turkey debates presidential systemThe Associated Press Reports: Kurdish Rebels Claim Responsibility for Turkey AttackVoice of America Today's Zaman -The National -Bloomberg all 289 news articles »

The races are exciting, but with talks of a takeover rampant and Bernie Ecclestone distracted, F1 is in a worrying state of flux

There is a streak of insanity in the world of Formula One but this week in Istanbul – a city with its own complicated personality split by the Bosphorus – it has seemed in imminent danger of surpassing even its own extremes.

Part sport, part trade fair and part raucous fashion parade F1 has been kept on track by the collective will of its many watchers and the astounding juggling skills of Bernie Ecclestone, the commercial rights holder.

But there is an increasing awareness that the 80-year-old Ecclestone will not go on forever. He has run his exorbitant roost for more than three decades but is distracted by an investigation by German authorities into alleged bribes in connection with the purchase of F1 by the private equity firm CVC in 2005.

This week there have been more reports of takeover talks suggesting that Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, together with Italy's Agnelli dynasty, the owners of Fiat and Ferrari, are hoping to wrest control from CVC. There is renewed speculation too that this may be Turkey's last race, even though the Hermann Tilke-designed circuit, opened only six years ago, is one of the best on the calendar.

And, despite the original deadline for a decision on the future of this year's Bahrain Grand Prix being postponed until next month, there are ridiculous mutterings the race may be resurrected; the season's March pipe-opener was cancelled in an uncharacteristic moment of common sense, given the violent civil unrest in the country.

Rumour, as much as the specially refined fuel, energises this giddy circus and, on the eve of the Turkish Grand Prix, rumour has never been so rife. And all the time there is a self-importance about the sport that borders on solipsism; it is full of charming, bright young men.

Istanbul Park is traditionally billed as F1's return to Europe, even though it takes place on the Asian side of this opulent city. On arrival there were more security guards than spectators.

It has been Ecclestone's genius to persuade various governments that they are in urgent need of a grand prix. So another stadium is erected on some wasteland far removed from the main city; there are now a herd of these white elephants scattered across the globe. It is hardly surprising that few bother to turn up at Bahrain, South Korea, Valencia, Malaysia, China and Turkey, while traditional centres, such as France, Portugal and South Africa are now off the schedule.

But at least the poor turnout in the build-up made it easier to get to one of the sport's saner voices. John Booth is team principal of the unfailingly genial Virgin team, who live at the far end of the paddock, well away from the big names, McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari.

In relation to the takeover talks, Yorkshireman Booth said: "Sometimes the speculation is put out there for political reasons so we don't try to second-guess what people are up to – especially people with the nous of Bernie Ecclestone. So we concentrate on what we can control.

"Even with the talk of the sale of Formula One we don't know whether it's a red herring or there is genuine interest or even the possibility. Obviously we crave stability and sustainability. The sustainability is driven by the TV figures and as far as I understand they're as strong as ever, if not getting stronger."

Like most people in the sport, he is strongly opposed to the idea of F1 moving to Sky. "I think it would be a disaster for F1 to go on to pay-for-view. I'm not a fan of pay-for-view for any sport. I love my boxing but I wouldn't pay for it. I think it works great on the BBC and it would be fantastic to see it stay there. They're pretty lucky, of course, because the racing over the past two years has been really exciting.

"The sport is in good shape. The last race, in China, was one of the best races I've ever seen. The combination of the rear wing and the tyres has made it made it the most exciting F1 has been for 20 years. But I think Kers is a total waste of time. McLaren and Ferrari will each spend £10m or whatever on Kers just to cancel each other out. We're disadvantaged because we haven't got the resources to run it."

At the other end of the paddock, McLaren's team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: "I think it's clear that the business model of all the teams relies on free-to-air. We're selling a large, broad, media exposure. That's the business model and I'm sure that that's the business model all the Formula One teams will require going forward."

But he added: "From a different angle, I think that for the last 20 years perhaps we, collectively, have not managed the sport as well as we can. There's been in-fighting, there's a competitive spirit in Formula One that sometimes has been quite damaging. But recently there's been a period of unprecedented co-operation between the teams."

By a combination of accident and contrived design, modern Formula One presents a compelling package. But it is flawed and its future is uncertain. And that is what Ecclestone – or others – must address.

It's four-tenths of a mile long and drivers will experience 3.5G as they take it at more than 160 mph during this weekend's Turkish GP. Here's a look at one of the best corners in all of motorsports.

Formula 1 championship leader Sebastian Vettel suffered a setback today on day one of practice at the very wet 2011 Turkish Grand Prix, crashing at high speed into a barrier at Istanbul Park Circuit’s dreaded Turn Eight, a sharp left-hand corner with no less than three apexes. Fortunately the German youngster was unhurt in the crash, though...

Williams endures a day that is both productive and challenging as the Turkish GP weekend starts in Istanbul

Jenson Button has likened sections of the bumpy Istanbul Park circuit to a motocross track after both McLarens visibly struggled under braking for turn 12 during Friday practice for the Turkish Grand Prix

Filed under: Turkey

Disclaimer: Today's summer travel destination isn't exactly the most widely recognizable corner of the world. In fact, some of you seasoned travel vets out there might be scratching your heads and searching for the nearest world map. But we're guessing that after a few hundred words or so, we'll have you dreaming about a trip to Cappadocia.

We're not talking about the small town of the same name in Central Italy, but rather an ancient region of eastern Anatolia, and part of modern Nevşehir Province in Turkey. Cappadocia, pronounced something akin to Kapadokya, is distinguished by its spectacular landscape of fairy chimneys, cave dwellings and expansive underground cities.

Accessible by either bus or plane from Istanbul, Cappadocia is one of the undeniable highlights of any Turkish grand tour. The centerpiece is Göreme National Park, which was designated in 1985 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and protects rock carvings dating back to the Roman era. Another major draw is the town of Ürgüp, where you can bed down in a Flintstone-esque hotel carved right out of the rock face.

Have we captured your full attention yet? If not, check out the gallery below.

Continue reading Summer Travel: Exploring Cappadocia

Summer Travel: Exploring Cappadocia originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 06 May 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Istanbul, Cappadocia, Kusadasim, and Ephesus, Turkey, a Greek Islands cruise and a visit to Venice

ISTANBUL - Jenson Button made the most of improved conditions to post the fastest time in Friday's second practice...

Paul Hembery: "We've been delighted to welcome Mr Tronchetti to Istanbul, on what has been a historic day for Pirelli. We've seen our intermediate and wet tyres take to the track for the first time, and as we confirmed when we tested in the wet at Istanbul Park last month, these tyres are extremely effective even in the soaking conditions we...

Jenson Button leads the way in Friday practice for the Turkish Grand Prix Jenson Button declared himself 'pretty happy' after setting the pace on the first day of running in Istanbul ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix.After the team elected to sit out much of the opening session of the weekend due to the wet conditions, Button proved to be the...

McLaren’s Jenson Button was the fastest man on track in the second free practice ahead of this season’s Turkish Grand Prix. The Briton clocked a best time of (1:26.456, 26 laps), beating by 0.065 seconds Mercedes GP’s Nico Rosberg (1:26.521, 29 laps) and by 0.577 team-mate Lewis Hamilton (1:27.033, 31 laps). Fourth fastest time for [...]

Eurosport.com ASIA

F1 : 2011 Turkey - Pirelli - Istanbul Formula 1 Friday report F1SA Formula One report - In the presence of Pirelli's President Marco Tronchetti Provera, the PZero tyres set a time just two tenths of a second off last year's pole time during the afternoon free practice session at Istanbul today where the fastest time ... Pirelli wants tyre allocation changeYahoo! Eurosport UK all 10 news articles »

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Formula 1

F1 : 2011 Turkey - Ferrari - Istanbul Formula 1 Friday report F1SA Formula One report - Wet start to the weekend for Scuderia Marlboro Ferrari with Felipe Massa sixth and Fernando Alonso 11th on a difficult Friday at Istanbul. Incessant rain has been the key feature so far today, thus affecting the first free practice ... Ferrari's driver Felipe Massa hopes a 'successful' Turkish race: Formula 1 Newsbettor.com (blog) FORMULA 1: MASSA TRUSTS TURKISH GP WILL BE THRILLINGAgenzia Giornalistica Italia Ferrari hope improvements pay dividendsStan James Betting News La Gazzetta dello Sport -Motorsport.com all 111 news articles »