Banaz-Menderes Win Rally Hitit

Round two of the Shell Helix 2021 Turkish Rally Championship, part of the 2021 Demir Berberoğlu Season, the 47th Hitit Rally, was held on 3-4 July with the support of Kahramankazan Municipality and organised by the Ankara Automobile Sports Club (ANOK). Returning to its birthplace after a 12-year absence, the event drew 74 cars and 148 competitors and produced a fierce battle.

Banaz-Menderes Extend Championship Lead
Intermittent rain made tyre choice particularly difficult for the crews, and the rally ended in victory for Buğra Banaz-Gürkal Menderes, driving a Skoda Fabia R5 for BC Vision Motorsport. Having topped the podium in Eskişehir, the Banaz-Menderes crew won again in Ankara and maintained their championship lead after the event. BC Vision Motorsport's other crew, Burak Çukurova-Vedat Bostancı, took second overall, while Ümit Can Özdemir-Batuhan Memişyazıcı of Castrol Ford Team Türkiye finished third. BC Vision Motorsport won the teams' classification and Castrol Ford Team Türkiye took the manufacturers' honours.

The rally began on Saturday 3 July with a start ceremony in front of the Bilkent Hotel, and over two days the crews fought a hard battle on a tarmac route totalling 334.6 kilometres. The event concluded on Sunday 4 July with a prize-giving on the finish podium at the Bilkent Hotel. Fatih Kara-Bilge Ayan of Fiat Motorsporları won the 2WD and Class 4 category in a Fiat Egea. In Class N, Buğra Can Kılıç-Yusuf Çalık of Evofone Rally Team took the class win in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX, while in Class 3, Erol Akbaş-Egemen Dural of Castrol Ford Team Türkiye won the trophy in the Ford Fiesta Rally3, which was making its first stage appearance in Turkey.

In Class 5 and the Clio Rally Trophy Turkey classification, Çağlayan Çelik-Ufuk Uluocak took victory in a Renault Clio Rally5, while in the other single-make series, the Fiesta Rally Cup, Serhan Türkkan-Koray Akgün won in a Ford Fiesta R2. Emre Hasbay was the rally's best young driver, Ali Emre Yılmaz the best young co-driver, Özlem Uludağ Gülcan the best female driver, and Sevi Akal, who competed with Özcan Söke, the best female co-driver.

Üstünkaya-Tar Make It Two from Two in Historic Class
In the Turkish Historic Rally Championship, open to classic rally cars over 35 years old, Üstün Üstünkaya-Kerim Tar, driving a 1976 Ford Escort MKII for Parkur Racing, took both the overall win and the Category 2 win, banking valuable points. Levent Gür-Oytun Albayrak, in a Murat 131, took second overall and the Category 1 win, while third went to Özgür Yürük-Mehmet Serkan Şahiner, also in a Murat 131.

Tanrıverdi-Genç Win Şevki Gökerman Cup
The 47th Hitit Rally was also the third round of the Şevki Gökerman Rally Cup, following Rally Bodrum and the Evofone ESOK Rally. In the cup, which attracted 31 crews in total, Okan Tanrıverdi-Sevilay Genç of Castrol Ford Team Türkiye took the overall win and the Category 2 win in a Ford Fiesta R2. The prizes for the cup's top finishers were presented by Duygu Gökerman, wife of Şevki Gökerman, the doyen of Turkish motorsport. Emrah Ali Başo-Yasin Tomurcuk took second in a Ford Fiesta ST for the same team, with the Bursa-based crew also winning Category 3. Erhan Akbaş-Ersen Yıldız of GP Garage finished third overall and won Category 4 in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX, while the Izmir brothers İsmail Cabacı-İbrahim Cabacı took the Category 1 win in a Citroen Saxo VTS.

Rally Hitit Back on Home Soil
Speaking at the prize-giving, Kahramankazan Mayor Serhat Oğuz noted that after a 12-year gap the Hitit Rally had returned to its birthplace, saying: "Next year and in the years to come, the Hitit Rally will become an even bigger event. With the work we will carry out, we will make Kahramankazan, which is also geographically well suited to motorsport, the centre of motorsport in Turkey and a meeting point for rally enthusiasts. I thank all the competitors and teams who took part in the rally, and all the motorsport fans."

TOSFED President Eren Üçlertoprağı described the Hitit Rally as one of Turkey's most important events, saying: "We are delighted that the Hitit Rally has returned to its home. We thank our Mayor Serhat Oğuz and the municipality for their great support of this event. It was a very successful race, run with great enthusiasm. We would like the Hitit Rally to stay in Ankara for many more years."

Ankara Automobile Sports Club President Çağrı Nerkiz said they wanted to keep growing the Hitit Rally in the coming years, and thanked Kahramankazan Municipality and Mayor Serhat Oğuz for their support, as well as the sponsors and everyone who worked on the event.

The Excitement Continues in Yeşil Bursa

The Shell Helix 2021 Turkish Rally Championship continues with the 45th Yeşil Bursa Rally, organised by the Bursa Automobile Sports Club (BOSSEK) on 7-8 August. Run on the tarmac stages in the Orhaneli-Keles region, the event will also award points to the Turkish Historic Rally Championship and the Şevki Gökerman Rally Cup at a coefficient of 0.8.