İlayda Bantboru Takes Podium at Baja Troia

İlayda Hancı Korkut, who is racing with confidence towards a class title in the 2018 Turkish Off-road Championship at the wheel of the BANTBORU Offroad Team Suzuki Grand Vitara, also achieved a podium finish at Baja Troia Turkey, her second objective of the season. The challenging course of the event, in which İlayda Hancı Korkut was the only female driver among more than 30 crews at the start, saw almost half of the field retire.

Over four days of racing from 4-7 October 2018, Baja Troia Turkey covered an 822 km route in 10 stages, including 500 km of special stages. Baja Troia Turkey was the fifth round of the six-round Eastern European Baja calendar and brought together strong competitors from around 10 countries, including Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Romania, Israel and the TRNC, as well as Turkey. Baja Troia Turkey was organised by İSOFF in Turkey for the second time this year.
Immediately after winning their class in the fifth round of the national championship, held in Denizli on 29-30 September, the BANTBORU Offroad Team crew travelled to Çanakkale to take their place on the Baja Troia Turkey start line. With İlayda Hancı Korkut, the only female driver in the event, at the wheel, the crew competed in the TH1 class, with Batuhan Korkut in the co-driver's seat as usual. The pair put in a strong performance, finishing second in TH1 and achieving their podium target.

Happy Birthday, BANTBORU Offroad Team
Reminding that the Grand Vitara first appeared in BANTBORU Offroad Team colours at this event last year, İlayda Hancı Korkut said: "Our main target is the national championship, but Baja Troia is a very important event and carries special meaning as it is held in Çanakkale's unique atmosphere. We finished third in this event last year, and this year we came again aiming for the podium. With this result, we have moved up a step on the podium this year."
Noting that the event was run on a tough, punishing course, İlayda Hancı Korkut said: "The long stage distances were an additional challenge. We competed in front of the spectators on the show stages and in the heart of Çanakkale's magnificent nature on the other stages. In this event, where we took a podium with the Competitive Performance philosophy of our sponsor BANTBORU, another aim was to measure ourselves against foreign rivals in line with our long-term goals. We kept our national championship target in mind and raced at a quick but sensible pace. We finished on the podium in an event where only about half of the crews that started saw the finish."