Orhan Wins in Istanbul
The sixth round of the Turkish Rally Championship season, the TÜYAP 37th Istanbul Rally, was organised on 24-25 September 2016 by the Istanbul Automobile Sports Club, known by its abbreviation İSOK. Organised with TÜYAP as title sponsor and the support of Ford, Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, İPOP, TTOK, Fiat and Şişli Municipality, the rally took place in and around Intercity Istanbul Park with 45 cars and 90 competitors. The event, in which Sinan Akçıl, one of the best-loved names in Turkish pop music, started in the course car as co-driver to Burcu Çetinkaya Bucak, was followed enthusiastically by a large crowd of spectators.
On the first day, which began on Saturday 03 September with the start from the Istanbul Park Car Market, the battle continued after the Göçbeyli and Oruçoğlu stages with the İPOP spectator stage at Intercity Istanbul Park. The Yağız Avcı-Bahadır Gücenmez crew, racing for Neo Motorspor with the support of Peugeot Sport Türkiye, finished the day in the lead, 7.9 seconds ahead of the Castrol Ford Team Türkiye crew of Orhan Avcıoğlu-Burçin Korkmaz. On a day that saw fierce competition both overall and in the classes, third place went to the BC Vision Motorsport crew of Burak Çukurova-Vedat Bostancı in a Citroen DS3 R5 EVO.
On the second day, after the Göçbeyli and Oruçoğlu stages were each run twice, the rally ended with the Redbull.com Power Stage (bonus stage). After two days of competition, Orhan Avcıoğlu-Burçin Korkmaz, racing a Ford Fiesta S2000 for Castrol Ford Team Türkiye, emerged as the winners of the TÜYAP 37th Istanbul Rally. The Peugeot Sport Türkiye-backed Neo Motorspor crew of Yağız Avcı-Bahadır Gücenmez, who had led for a long time, could only finish second after suffering clutch problems over the final three stages. Murat Bostancı-Onur Vatansever, racing a Ford Fiesta R2T for Castrol Ford Team Türkiye, took third overall and the Class 4 win, and were also the fastest 2WD crew of the event. The points gained from this rally guaranteed Yağız Avcı the fifth Turkish Rally Championship title of his career. As TOSFED's 2016 rally regulations require participation in all 7 of the 7 rounds, Avcı-Gücenmez will make their championship official once they start the final rally of the season.
At the finish podium in front of İPOP on Sunday evening, the Neo Motorspor crew of Uğur Soylu-Emir Şahin, racing a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX, took victory in Class N, while Ahmet Burkay-Bilge Ayan of BC Vision Motorsport, in a Peugeot 208 R2, took the Class 3 win. After this rally, Burkay and Soylu became the names to have mathematically secured the Turkish Rally Championship title in their classes. Fırat Yükselir-Ecem Çalık won the battle in Class 5 in a Ford Fiesta R1, while the 'best female co-driver' award went to Sevilay Genç, who raced with Ümitcan Özdemir for Castrol Ford Team Türkiye, the 'best young driver' to Buğra Banaz of the same team, and the 'best young co-driver' to Uğurtan Ünal, who raced with Can Altınok.
Rally cars over 35 years old continued to defy the years in Eskişehir. Among the 8 historic cars that started, the fastest were Engin Kap-Özden Yılmaz in a Ford Escort MK2 for Bonus Unifree Parkur Racing, with second place going to Levent Gür-Oytun Albayrak in a Fiat 131. Third in this classification went to Gerçek Sunman and Bahar Sunman, also in a Fiat 131.
In the Yusuf Aramacı Rally Cup, which featured 10 crews, the category wins were shared by Murat Güray-Hürol Menderes in Category 1 with a Fiat Palio, Gökhan Parlatan-Hakan Uçucu in Category 2 with a Citroen C2, and Doğuş Gökay-Macit Gür in Category 3 with an Opel Ascona.
Following this rally, Yağız Avcı-Bahadır Gücenmez continue to lead the 2016 Turkish Rally Championship, while Engin Kap-Özden Yılmaz of Bonus Unifree Parkur Racing lead the Historic Rally Championship and Castrol Ford Team Türkiye top the Teams' Championship.
The 2016 Turkish Rally Championship will conclude with the Hitit Rally, to be organised in Çorum by the Ankara Automobile Club ANOK on 29-30 October.
