Hyundai Backs Young Champion

Hyundai Motor Türkiye continues to bring its global motorsport experience together with young talent. As part of this, Turkey's youngest rally champion, Kerem Kazaz, will compete in the 2026 Turkish Rally Championship in a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 with the backing of the brand.

Kazaz will take part in different rounds throughout the season alongside co-driver Corentin Silvestre. Hyundai's success in the World Rally Championship (WRC) since 2014 is backed by its manufacturing strength in Turkey. Hyundai Motor Türkiye, which builds the bodyshell of the i20 N Rally1 at its İzmit factory, aims to reflect this accumulated know-how in local motorsport as well.

Winning Start in Bodrum

Kerem Kazaz delivered a strong performance at Rally Bodrum, one of the key events of the season, and held on to the lead despite changeable weather conditions. After finishing the first day as overall leader, the young driver won four of the five stages run on Saturday and took victory in the rally by a margin of 38 seconds.

Next Stop: Bursa

The next event for the Kerem Kazaz – Corentin Silvestre crew will be Yeşil Bursa Rally, to be held on 6-7 June. The seven-round Turkish Rally Championship will continue in different cities throughout the year and conclude with the final round in Istanbul. The crew is aiming to take a consistent set of results across the season and fight for the championship title. By bringing its long-established motorsport experience together with young competitors, Hyundai Motor Türkiye aims both to contribute to the development of rallying in Turkey and to reach wider audiences with its performance-focused N brand.

Global Motorsport Heritage

Hyundai Motorsport GmbH was founded in Alzenau, Germany, in 2012 and began managing the brand's WRC and customer racing activities. The team returned to the championship in 2014 with the i20 WRC and achieved a major success by winning the manufacturers' championship in 2019 and 2020. Hyundai also delivers strong performance in the TCR series with the i30 N TCR, Veloster N TCR and Elantra N TCR. The brand also transfers the experience gained in motorsport to performance models such as the i20 N, KONA N, i30 N and Elantra N, while carrying this approach into a new generation of models with the all-electric IONIQ 5 N and IONIQ 6 N.