Efe Ersoy: "The Season Has Started Well"

The 2016 Turkish Rally Championship began with the Aegean Rally in Izmir, which has become something of a classic... To begin with, I should say that after last season I wasn't expecting a particularly brilliant, well-entered or enjoyable year, but the revival our sport has seen under the new management has made me, like everyone else, very happy. Many thanks to President Serkan and his esteemed management team for the contribution they have started to make to the sport, and which I hope they will continue.

This season, with technical support from Teknik Motorspor and sponsorship from Orintech, Difference and Linkplus, we are competing in the RC3 class in a Ford Fiesta ST alongside Tarık Gökçen, one of the sport's new names. Whether it is down to the growth in the number of Bursa-based crews under President Serkan's influence, or simply to there being so many Fiestas back on the stages that it was almost a Fiesta Cup, I don't know, but 12 cars started in RC3. As a new crew, I want to say that we very much liked how clean this year's classic Izmir stages were, and the preparations the organisers had made. The spectator points and the organisation of spectator transport were superb.

One of the most important points I can't pass over is that this season the stages carry the names of our esteemed elders who gave their years to this sport, and of dear friends we lost at a young age, names that for reasons we never understood had been banned in previous seasons. Remembering our dear Teoman and our esteemed elder Mazhar ağabey in this way is both informative about the history of our sport for new competitors and a mark of loyalty to friendships that never fade. Another innovation from our TOSFED President Serkan abi and the board is the VIP Card. I would also like to thank them for this lovely gesture, which shows loyalty to everyone who has devoted themselves to this sport, whether as driver, official, marshal or mechanic, and who has put in the work, shed the sweat and worn out the kilometres.

Turning to the rally itself, in our class of 12 cars we started the first day tentatively, having lost concentration because of a neutralisation caused by a fire and having been left in the dark on the spectator stage. On the second day, though, we brought our times down, got used to each other as driver and co-driver, and completed a maximally productive adaptation rally by reaching the finish. We also finished the Power Stage in third place and took third in the RC3 class.

First of all I would like to thank the TOSFED management, then EOSK, and the valued technical team at Teknik Motorspor. To all our friends who, through the vagaries of mechanical sport, were unable to finish the rally, I send my commiserations.

See you at Rally Marmaris, the second round of the season, which I believe will have a festival atmosphere…