Besler Among Karting's Top 10 Drivers

Turkish national karting driver Berkay Besler, who has been a constant frontrunner on the international stage this season and most recently became Central and Eastern European Champion, has added another achievement to his record. Berkay finished among the top 10 drivers at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portugal.

The week-long competition in Portimao hosted 288 drivers from 38 countries across Europe, Asia, the Americas, Australia and Africa. Among them in the DD2 category was former Formula 1 driver Rubens Barrichello of Brazil. The organisers complemented a high-quality event with special invitations and entertainment, putting on a real visual spectacle.

Representing Turkey in the Senior Max category, which featured 72 drivers, Berkay Besler produced a superb performance from day one, setting the best times in both practice and qualifying, and earned the right to start the semi-final from the front. The race at the 1,532-metre Algarve Kartodromo was thrilling, and the fierce battle between very fast drivers was well worth watching. Our representative dropped as far back as seventh at one point but never lost control, and turned a crash on lap 13 to his advantage, finishing the 15-lap semi-final in second place, just 0.330 seconds behind Italian driver Alex Alex.

Starting the 20-lap final from the second row, Berkay Besler dropped to fourth because of the confusion at the start. On lap 6 he fell as far back as 14th, but did not lose his racing discipline and went on the attack after that lap. Climbing rapidly up the order, Berkay Besler finished eighth in a final he could have won, having been held up by traffic ahead. Italy's Alex Alex won, American Lucas Sellikan took second and South Africa's Jordan Shernat was third.

Berkay Besler, who has caught the attention of the sport's authorities with his consistent performances at the top this season, and crowned them by becoming Central and Eastern European champion, has with this result in Portugal put his name among the world's top 10 drivers and added another achievement to his record.

Competing in the Junior Max category, Mert Dalkıran finished 22nd in the first race, 17th in the second and 23rd in the third, and ended up 40th overall in his category, which left him in the Second Chance group, from which the top six progress to the final. Mert failed to finish in the top six in the Second Chance race and was eliminated. Competing in the DD2 Senior category, Berk Durak finished the first race in 29th. After retiring from the second race following a crash, Berk did not take part in the last race and was eliminated. In the DD2 Masters category, Kerem Zengin finished the first race 28th, the second 27th and the third 31st. He bid farewell to the Grand Final with 64th place overall in his category...