Smoke and Door-to-Door Battles at İzmirPark

In round four of the Apex Masters drift cup, the drivers showed in a door-to-door, smoke-filled fight just how much they had missed the İzmir Ülkü circuit!

Although it was the middle of November, the weather in İzmir was superb. Practice and qualifying took place on Saturday. The best score of the day, an 88 on the first run, went to Ali İnal, who sat at the top of the Top 16 in his green Nissan S13. Oktay Kabaktaş was second in his orange Nissan 200SX S14, while Kemal Soylu was third in his blue Replika R34.

Before the competition on Sunday, the drivers had the chance to meet and chat with the spectators. The crowd then took their places for the Top 16 presentation. The drivers were introduced on the track and the first competitors lined up at the start. With surprises from the opening rounds, many title contenders were knocked out in the first round. Kemal Özhaseki was eliminated by Kenan Erturgut. Timur Pomak then chased superbly to beat Mert Bilaloğlu and put his name into the next round. When Kemal Soylu lost to Burak Ünal, the job became considerably easier for championship leader Oktay Kabaktaş to take the season title. But Oktay never took his eye off the task and went all the way to the final. The winner of the first İzmir round, Oktay Kabaktaş met Ali İnal in the final. However, Ali İnal was on form and gave Oktay no chance. During the chase, to loud applause from the spectators, İnal stuck to Oktay's door and took victory in round four from him. It was also Ali İnal's first win in the Apex Masters. Mahmut Elbir, in his red Nissan S14, became the third driver to reach the podium with a stunning performance in İzmir.

When the event ended, Oktay Kabaktaş was smiling, because the cup was his!... Oktay Kabaktaş was the 2015 Apex Masters Drift Cup champion, with Kemal Özhaseki second in the season in his BMW E36 M3. Ali İnal, who moved ahead of the other drivers with his incredible performance in the final round, finished third in the season.

The event, which the spectators followed with great excitement, began in İzmir and ended in İzmir. The strong interest of around 5,000 spectators made the drivers very happy. The officials of the Drift Motorsports Club, who said they would like to be in İzmir in the 2016 season as well, now want drivers from İzmir to take part in the events too...