Coordinates: 40°57′6″N 29°24′18″E / 40.95167°N 29.405°E / 40.95167; 29.405

Istanbul Park (Turkish: İstanbul Park), also known as the Istanbul Racing Circuit or initially Istanbul Otodrom, is a motor sports race track in Akfırat village east of Istanbul, Turkey. It was inaugurated on 21 August 2005. It has been called "the best race track in the world" by Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

The venue of the Turkish Grand Prix is located in crossing of boundaries of Pendik and Tuzla districts on the Asian side of Istanbul, close to the junction of Kurtköy on the north side of the TEM motorway, linking Istanbul to Ankara. It is adjacent to the newly constructed Sabiha Gökçen International Airport and is surrounded by forests and fields.

The Istanbul Park racing circuit was one of only five circuits running anticlockwise in the 2011 Formula One season, the others being Interlagos circuit (used for the Brazilian Grand Prix), the Singapore Street Circuit (used for Singapore Grand Prix), the Korean International Circuit (used for Korean Grand Prix) and the Yas Marina Circuit (used for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix). The circuit is 5.338 km (3.317 mi) long, with an average width of 15 m (49 ft) ranging from 14 to 21.5 m (46 to 70.5 ft), and covers over 2.215 million m². With a total of 14 corners, the sharpest with a radius of merely 15 m (49 ft), the circuit runs over four different ground levels with a start/finish straight over 650 m (2,133 ft) in length. The total race distance of the Turkish Grand Prix is 309.356 km (192.225 mi) over 58 laps.

Istanbul (Turkish: İstanbul) is the largest city in Turkey, forming the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population of 13.4 million, the city is at the center of the second-largest urban area in Europe after Moscow, and among the world's largest cities by population within city limits. Istanbul's vast area of 5,343 square kilometers (2,063 sq mi) is coterminous with Istanbul Province, of which the city is considered capital. Straddling the Bosphorus—one of the world's busiest waterways—in northwestern Turkey, between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, Istanbul is a transcontinental city, with one third of its population living in Asia but its commercial and historical center in Europe.

Founded around 660 BC as Byzantium on the Seraglio Point, the city now known as Istanbul developed to become one of the most significant cities in history. For nearly sixteen centuries following its reestablishment as Constantinople in 330 AD, it served as the capital of four empires — the late classical Roman Empire (330–395), the Eastern Roman ("Byzantine") Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). It was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times, before the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453 and transformed it into an Islamic stronghold from which the last caliphate ruled. Although the Republic of Turkey established its capital elsewhere, in Ankara, remnants of Istanbul's previous central role still remain highly visible across the city, with palaces and imperial mosques lining its hills.

Kenan Sofuoğlu (born August 25, 1984 in Kuzuluk, Akyazı) is a Turkish professional motorcycle racer. He currently competes in Moto2 for the Technomag-CIP team, having made his debut at the end of 2010 and will remain with the team for the 2011 season. He previously won the Supersport World Championship for the Ten Kate Honda in 2007 and 2010, and he is the championship's all-time leading race winner, having won 17 races. He raced in the World Superbike Championship for Ten Kate in 2008, but with limited success.

After winning Class B of the Turkish Supersport Championship in 2000 and the German Yamaha R6 Cup in 2002, Sofuoğlu moved into the European Superstock Championship finishing second and third in two seasons. After this, Sofuoğlu moved into the Supersport World Championship full-time in 2006 after three races in 2003. Sofuoğlu dominated the 2007 Supersport World Championship season, winning five of the first eight races, and broke the record for taking the most wins in one season. These included a two-lap charge from sixth to first at Monza, and a win on his first ever visit to Donington Park, in the wet. He also won at Losail, Spain and Assen, Netherlands. He clinched the championship with three races to go, by finishing second at Brands Hatch, becoming Turkey's first major motorsport world champion.