Buğra Banaz: I Gained Great Experience

Buğra Banaz, the young Eskişehir driver who has been contesting the European Rally Championship this season for Castrol Ford Team Türkiye with ETİ's backing, reviewed his 2018 season for TurkMotorspor.com readers.
Banaz is preparing to start the final round of the FIA European Rally Championship, Rally Latvia on 6-8 October, in a Ford Fiesta R2T with Burak Erdener as co-driver, and he outlined his goals: "This year is the second season of our three-year European Rally Championship adventure as Castrol Ford Team Türkiye. Last year we entered a few events to get to know the difficult and important rallies on the calendar. This year, building on the experience we gained last season, we successfully completed six of the eight rounds on the calendar, and we want to finish the season well with Rally Latvia. We are currently leading the European Rally Team Championship, and we want to defend that position in Latvia and complete the season as champions."

Buğra explained that the season began in Portugal's Azores with what is perhaps the toughest event on the calendar. "Then it continued in the Canary Islands, which belong to Spain. Both events took place on surfaces we were not at all used to, but we still completed the rallies with good results and valuable experience. Next up was the Acropolis Rally, one of the most famous rallies in the world, which we had experienced last year. My team-mate Murat was unlucky: while running third overall, he went off the road in the last three kilometres and his rally was over. I won my own class, ERC3, and earned important points for my team. After that we represented our country successfully in Cyprus, Poland and the Czech Republic, and by taking valuable points from those events we kept our lead in the team championship." That was how he summarised the first six rounds.
Describing 2017 as an important turning point in a career that began in karting at a young age, he said: "It really was a season in which we gained a great deal of experience... I hope that, building on this experience, we will be much more competitive next season. I would like to thank our team director Serdar Bostancı first of all for giving me these opportunities, everyone who contributed to my success, and in particular my co-driver Burak Erdener, my family and the whole Castrol Ford Team Türkiye crew." Ahead of the season finale, Buğra Banaz sits fourth in the ERC3 category, 18 points behind the leader, with a mathematical chance of winning it.