Crews Mark 100th Anniversary in Çanakkale
100.Yıl Rally, organised with the main sponsorship of the Çanakkale Miners' Association (ÇAMAD) and the contributions of the Çanakkale Governorship and ÇAMAD member companies, was held in Çanakkale on 16-17 May with 60 crews and 120 competitors. Beyond the Turkish Rally Championship, the rally also awarded points towards the Turkish Historic Rally Championship and the TOSFED Rally Cup, and began on Saturday 16 May at 16:30 from Özgürlük Park.
The rally consisted of three runs each over the 8.70km Yahya Çavuş, 14.75km 57.Alay and 16.20km Nezahat Onbaşı stages in the Bayramiç Çan region. Through an organisation by the Bakış Açısı ve Koordinasyon Topluluğu (BAKOT), around 3,500 university students watched the rally throughout Sunday from a special spectator area set up in Karaibrahimgil, accompanied by a programme of activities.
The rally ended in victory for last year's Turkish Rally champions Murat Bostancı-Onur Vatansever of Castrol Ford Team Türkiye. Second place went to the Yağız Avcı-Bahadır Gücenmez crew from Neo Motorspor, with the Orhan Avcıoğlu-Burçin Korkmaz crew, again from Castrol Ford Team Türkiye, third. The Ümit Erdim-Şener Güray crew from Neo Motorspor took the Class N win, while the Buğra Banaz-Burak Erdener crew from Castrol Ford Team Türkiye won Class 4, the 2WD category and the junior drivers' category. In Class 3, Taner Şengezener-Bora Yılmaz of Pegasus Racing, with Opel support, took the win, while Burcu Çetinkaya, competing alongside Çiçek Güney of Deltasport, won the female drivers' category and Nehir Yılmaz, competing with Hakkı Ağaoğlu, won the female co-drivers' category.
In the historic rally classification, open to rally cars over 30 years old, three Ford Escort MKII crews from the Bonus Unifree Parkur Racing team shared the podium. Four-time Turkish Historic Rally champions Engin Kap-Başar Yavuz took the win, with the Finnish crew Hannu Pulkkinen-Juha Rahkonen, competing on a Turkish licence this season, second. Burak Türkkan-Özden Yılmaz took third in this classification. The Category 1 win went to Emre Hasbay-Saip Can Hasbay, who competed in a Fiat 131 for Deltasport.
In the TOSFED Rally Cup, which saw 27 crews take part, the category wins were shared by İlhan Mutluay-Berkay Haymana from Istanbul in a Nissan Micra in Category 1, Okan Tanrıverdi-Murat Irmak from Antalya in a Citroen C2 in Category 2, Hakan Ertarman-Yunus Emre Bol from Bursa in a Renault Clio Ragnotti in Category 3, Serhan Türkkan-Taner Oylukan from Eskişehir in a Ford Fiesta R2 in Category 4, and Murat Güray-Hürol Menderes in Category 5.
At the end of the event, at the prize-giving ceremony held in Özgürlük Park, the awards were presented to the top finishers by AK Parti Çanakkale MP İsmail Kaşdemir, Çanakkale Deputy Mayor Celal Karakaş, TOSFED President Metin Çeker, Çanakkale Provincial Director of Youth and Sports Nüammer Uslu and ÇAMAD President Nurettin Ahi.
On the second day of the rally, it was stated that a person who was injured after being hit by one of the vehicles on duty on the public road was taken to Çanakkale State Hospital following initial treatment by medical teams, and that the person's condition was good.
