Youngest Driver Proves the Fastest
At the Champions' Championship, the fastest driver on day one among 44 competitors was 17-year-old karting product Ali Türkkan. Türkkan also drew attention on the event's second day, reaching the semi-finals at the wheel of an Opel Corsa OPC, and set the 'best lap time' of the day with a 01:28.075. The son of historic rally driver Burak Türkkan, Ali talked TurkMotorspor readers through his weekend...
"As the youngest driver in the 2017 Champions' Championship, I'm delighted to have set the fastest lap times both in the qualifying rounds, which featured the fastest names in our country, and in the final races contested by the 16 drivers who got through qualifying. I made it all the way to the semi-final, made up of the last four drivers, without losing a single match-up. Even though I won one run there, I lost two runs to Can Tolon, one of the legendary drivers of the İzmir circuit, and that brought my weekend to an end. Perhaps I didn't win the championship, but this weekend I gained many things as valuable as the 2017 Champions' Championship itself.
I had the chance to meet in person the legendary drivers who have carried motorsport to the present day, and to listen to their valuable experience. I had the chance to watch champion drivers with very different styles, whose careers are longer than I have been alive, and to learn a great deal from them. Once again I realised how much there is still to learn and how early I am on this road.
I would like to offer heartfelt thanks to the TOSFED management and our president Serkan Yazıcı, who invited me to the 2017 Champions' Championship and gave me the chance to show what I can do, to Kerem Üstünkaya, who has always supported me and contributed greatly to getting me to this point, and to everyone who backed me wholeheartedly and was excited for me over the weekend. Not everyone may be this fortunate at my age, and I hope I will always prove worthy of the trust and affection of everyone who believes in me and cares for me.
I sincerely congratulate the champion, Ayhancan Güven; may his road be clear and his luck plentiful…"
