Toktaş Fastest at Kartepe
The 7th and final round of the 2016 Turkish Hill Climb Championship was held at Kartepe on 5-6 November by Kocaeli Otomobil Sporları Kulübü (KOSDER), with the support of Kartepe Municipality.
The 6km course starts in front of Bayraktepe Restaurant on the new asphalt road climbing to Kartepe, opposite Kartepe Derbent Gendarmerie Station, and finishes on the old Kartepe road. Across three runs, 13 competitors from Bursa, Ankara, Istanbul, Antalya and Izmir battled in four different categories.
In Category 1, Bursa's Burak Başlık took the win in a Citroen Saxo VTS, followed by Istanbul's Burak Sohtorik in a Fiat Palio. Yiğit Yalçın of Bursa, also in a Fiat Palio, completed the Category 1 podium in third.
In Category 2, Nuray Işık of Bursa, driving an Opel Corsa S1600, claimed the first win of a career at Kartepe, while Okan Tanrıverdi of Antalya finished second in a Renault Clio Sport. Third place in Category 2 went to Bursa's Hakan Ertarman in a Renault Clio Ragnotti.
In Category 3, Bursa's Honda Civic Type-R driver İsmet Toktaş, competing for Ülkü Motorsport, left the Kartepe course with the class win. Toktaş also set the fastest run of the day, a 03:50.77 on the third run. Cem Yudulmaz of Izmir took second in a Honda Civic Type-R EP3, while Ufuk Yavuz of Istanbul was third in a Fiat Palio Kit Car.
In Category 4, where Selim Bacıoğlu failed to finish in his Peugeot 2070 R3T due to a mechanical failure, Kadir Murat Altuntaş of Ankara took the win in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX. In the same category, TeamArt Dream Drift Team driver Özer Mollamehmetoğlu, competing in his first hill climb in a BMW M3 E36, set the best overall time and finished the event as the local category winner. In addition, Kemal Özhaseki and Mert Bilaloğlu of the Apexmasters Turkish Drift Championship, along with individual entrant Burak Ünal, started first as a demonstration before each of the three runs, giving spectators some entertaining moments.
Following the final round of the season in the Turkish Hill Climb Championship, Burak Başlık in Category 1, Hakan Ertarman in Category 2, İsmet Toktaş in Category 3 and Ümit Ülkü in Category 4 were crowned Turkish champions.
