Aegean Rally Opens the Season with Fresh Changes

The launch meeting for the 27th Aegean Rally, which will welcome motorsport fans with a new route, was held at the Kaya Thermal Convention Center. The meeting was attended by TOSFED President Serkan Yazıcı and drivers Yağız Avcı, Murat Bostancı and Burak Çukurova, along with Ege Motorsport Club President Ömer Yüce and Saygılı Rulman Chairman of the Board Bilal Saygılı, representing the event's title sponsor.

EOSK President Ömer Yüce said special work had gone into the 27th Aegean Rally, which has become a tradition in Izmir, and that the rally would reach fans on a new route. Explaining that the route, which in previous years was based in and around Seferihisar, would now run with surprises at accessible points around the city, Yüce said motorsport would be coming down to the heart of Izmir. Yüce said: "Aegean Rally 2017 will start on a completely different route. We are going to break the mould... I would like to thank our fellow competitors. We will share the general details with you all as soon as possible."

Noting that the Aegean Rally is once again the season opener this year, as it is every year, TOSFED President Serkan Yazıcı said: "The Aegean Rally is one of my favourite events. The route has changed this year and I am sure it will be a thoroughly enjoyable event for everyone. I invite everyone to come and watch these lions in action. If we all pull together, this sport will go much further."

BC Vision Motorsport driver Burak Çukurova, who has twice won the Aegean Rally in his rally career, said the Izmir route has always held a special place for him. Çukurova said: "Izmir has always been special for us. This will be my 17th Izmir rally in my career. Because of its stages, its atmosphere and the fact that it is the opening round of the season, it has always been different for me. Having different stages in the event also gives us a different kind of excitement. I think it will be the most exciting and difficult rally of the season."

Castrol Ford Team Türkiye driver Murat Bostancı, who said they are eagerly awaiting the Aegean Rally's move to a new route, said: "It is genuinely exciting that the Aegean Rally is starting on a new route. It had been on the same route for years. It was once run on gravel and then moved to Kuşadası, but moving to a new route will be a new experience for everyone. New stages needed to be brought into the Turkish championship. I would like to thank the club as well."

2016 Turkish Rally Champion and Neo Motorsport driver Yağız Avcı said: "The classic Aegean Rally route was already one I loved very much. Of course I am very excited that a new route has been put together this year. Once we have put our programme together, we want to learn the details. I wish everyone success and thank everyone who has contributed."

Speaking at the meeting, Saygılı Rulman Chairman of the Board Bilal Saygılı said they had gladly accepted the offer to host the event for a second time, with the aim of supporting the sporting community and bringing motorsport together with its fans in a better way. Saygılı said: "We thank our TOSFED Chairman Serkan Yazıcı and Ömer Tolon. They asked us, 'Would you be the title sponsor of the Aegean Rally this year?' I was honoured, because any sporting activity held in our region, any event of our own, makes us extremely happy. Our beautiful Izmir needs far more good work and events. I see a benefit in Izmir being promoted in this way."

Recalling that they also hosted the route run in Seferihisar last year, Saygılı said the excitement had grown further with the change of route: "Last year we were title sponsor of the 26th Aegean Rally. That event took place on the Seferihisar side, and this year we decided that the route would be in the Kemalpaşa region. As Saygılı Rulman, we are keen to host this rally in the best possible way, and we will." Saygılı said they view Izmir residents' interest in motorsport extremely positively, adding that they were pleased with the spectator interest at the championships they had attended themselves: "The people of Izmir are very interested in this kind of sporting activity. There was a very good turnout last year. In our research we saw that interest in this kind of event is considerably high on the Kemalpaşa side. Our Kemalpaşa Mayor and our Izmir Metropolitan Mayor have said they will give the necessary attention and support on this. We will carry spectators to the stages on municipal buses. I believe it will be a very colourful weekend for Izmir. On 22-23 April we will leave a fine mark on Izmir and finish the event cleanly and without incident."

Noting that the finish and trophy ceremony coincides with a very special day for Turkey, Saygılı said preparations for special children's programmes are continuing. Saygılı said: "The founder of our Republic, the great leader Atatürk, gave that day to children as a gift in the most beautiful way. He also expressed the importance he gave to sport and sportspeople with the words 'I like sportsmen who are intelligent, agile and moral.' We will celebrate National Sovereignty and Children's Day with a rally worthy of his legacy. We will also delight our children. In Izmir, the centre of the Republic and democracy, we will let our children enjoy Children's Day in the best possible way."

The 27th Aegean Rally, to be held in Izmir on 22-23 April, is also the opening round of the season. In the rally, now being held for the 27th time, 60 national competition cars and 120 national competitors will take part, along with 15 local drivers. 500 people will work on the event. Expected to be followed live by more than 5,000 spectators, the rally will consist of 9 stages and a total of 450 kilometres, 110 of them competitive.