Öztiryaki Crew Take ISOFF Challenge Title

The three-round ISOFF Challenge 2017 season came to a close on Sunday 26 November with the final race at the Kemerburgaz Off-road Park. After the opening two races, Tarık Gökbay (De Toro) led the standings on 35 points, with Murat Öztiryaki (Suzuki Grand Vitara) just behind on 34. They were followed by Yusuf Yıldız (Grand Cherokee) on 24 points and another De Toro driver, Nihat Keskin, on 20. With the points so close, results in this finale were vital for the overall season classification. The crews tried to run a strategic race, aiming to reach the finish without damaging their vehicles and to protect the valuable points on offer, while also pushing hard to get ahead of their rivals.
The opening races of the season had been an enjoyable start in terms of both the variety of drivers and vehicles. For spectators, watching modified 4x4s, buggies and eye-catching machines such as the De Toro and Can-Am X3 race each other was a visual treat, while the drivers, in an increasingly competitive environment, began to set a more exciting and aggressive pace.

In the ISOFF Challenge, crews progress through the rounds on stage times, fighting their way towards the final. After qualifying, the race begins with a mass start, and the 16 drivers who set the best times in the first stage earn the right to start the next one. In the 10-lap second stage, only the eight fastest crews go through to the Final stage. In the eight-lap Final, the first crew to see the chequered flag wins the race and takes the trophy. The points collected across the three races held during the year then determine the season champion.
In this final race, the buggy crew of İlyas Tahincioğlu–Bahadır Gücenmez set the fastest time in the first round. They were followed by the De Toro of Nihat Keskin–Yasemin Toker, four seconds back, and the Can-Am of Ali Doğaner–Arman Özdemir, eight seconds behind. The De Toro crew of Tarık Gökbay–Bülent Gültekin, among the favourites, abandoned the stage with a serious engine failure, while Saim Tekin–Deniz Tekin, who had been leading the race in a Can-Am, were unable to finish because of an electrical fault.
The eight crews with the best times started the second round. Following the three crews that set the best times in S4, the starters were Burak Çağdaş Çağlar–Faysal Şevkatlioğlu from Bursa in a Can-Am in Class 4; Tuncay Akbulut–Uğur Tepe in a Jeep Cherokee and Aziz Görkan–Ahmet Altuntaş in a Range Rover in Class 3; Murat Öztiryaki–Mert Öztiryaki in a Suzuki Grand Vitara in Class 2; and Diren Üykü–Baran Aşkın in a Suzuki Grand Vitara in Class 1.

The final stage was a thrilling spectacle for the crowd. In a closely fought stage, the top three were separated by just seconds. After 10 laps, the first crew to see the chequered flag was Ali Doğaner–Arman Özdemir. Nihat Keskin–Yasemin Toker took second, three seconds back, followed by İlyas Tahincioğlu–Bahadır Gücenmez in third.
On points accumulated across the whole season, the Murat Öztiryaki–Mert Öztiryaki crew were crowned 2017 ISOFF Challenge champions.