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Melandri quickest as Rossi trails
 Melandri was nearly half a second quicker than his Istanbul rivals ISTANBUL, Turkey -- World champion Valentino Rossi missed top slot in Friday's first free practice for Sunday's inaugural Turkish MotoGP, placing only fifth of 19 starters. His young rival Marco Melandri claimed the fastest time by the impressive margin of 0.43 seconds. With one more practice session remaining before Saturday's qualifying, 26-year-old Italian Rossi is facing a battle to match multiple champion Mick Doohan's record of 12 wins in a season. Rossi has already won his fifth consecutive championship, plus the manufacturers and team prizes for Gauloises Yamaha. He matched his previous record of 11 wins last weekend at the Australian GP and has two more races to match or beat Doohan's season record of 12. He is also one race short of Doohan's overall total of 54 premier-class victories. Only 68-times winner Giacomo Agostini has more. "We have a lot of problems with the bike -- we are in trouble," said Rossi. "We need to find out why. My big difficulty is braking, with the front end unstable." Honda's Melandri set a fastest time 0.43 seconds ahead of teammate Sete Gibernau. His lap time for the 5.3 km 14-corner circuit was 1:54.63. American Honda rider Nicky Hayden was third, 0.82 seconds slower. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) was a close fourth, with Rossi less than a tenth slower in fifth. The circuit, inaugurated in August with the first F1 GP, won favor with most riders, for its combination of fast sweeping corners and tight technical sections. "This track is unbelievable... so fast, especially Turn 11, flat out in fifth gear," said fourth-fastest Nakano. "Even though it was designed on a computer, it is a very human track, very good for riders." Rossi was not so sure. "There are a lot of big and fast corners, together with hard braking and hairpins...but the last section is like a joke, too slow," he said. "Another problem is the F1 cars have made bumps in the braking areas, where the surface has rippled," added Rossi. Four riders are fighting for second overall -- Hayden and Melandri (170 points apiece), Colin Edwards (Yamaha, 162) and Max Biaggi (Honda, 159). Edwards was seventh on Friday, after stopping out on the track with his machine on fire. Biaggi, who crashed out of the Australian GP, was tenth. Double 2005 race winner Loris Capirossi (Ducati) and former World Champion Kenny Roberts Junior will both miss the Turkish GP, after suffering injuries a week ago in Australia. 
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