Avcı and Gücenmez Win in Kocaeli
Round 5 of the 2015 Turkish Rally Championship, the Ford Otosan 33rd Kocaeli Rally, ended in victory by 12.3 seconds for the Yağız Avcı-Bahadır Gücenmez crew, driving a Peugeot 207 S2000 for Neo Motorspor.
The event was organised with Ford Otosan as title sponsor and the support of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, İzmit Municipality, Outlet Center İzmit, Toshiba, Avis, Setur and Wellborn Luxury Hotel. Orhan Avcıoğlu-Burçin Korkmaz took second overall in a Ford Fiesta S2000 for Castrol Ford Team Türkiye, while third went to Murat Bostancı-Onur Vatansever from the same team. Following this rally, Murat Bostancı-Onur Vatansever mathematically secured the 2015 Turkish Rally Championship title with two rounds of the season still to run.
RAIN TESTS THE CREWS
The rally began on Saturday 22 August with a start in front of Outlet Center İzmit. Intermittent rain over the two days made tyre choice and set-up difficult for the crews. On the first day the rally ran through the Transit (12.40 km), Tourneo Courier (9.10 km) and Ford Otosan (18.80 km) stages, and finally the Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Spectator Stage (1.20 km). The spectator stage, built beside the service park at Perşembe Pazarı in the city centre, drew great interest from motorsport fans, and the crews gave onlookers a visual show that will be remembered for a long time. On the second day, Sunday 23 August, the crews ran the Transit, Tourneo Courier and Ford Otosan stages twice each, then fought to reach the finish podium in front of Outlet Center from 17:20.
CLOSE FIGHTS IN THE CLASSES
It was a closely fought rally in which 6 crews in the national classification failed to finish for various reasons. In Class N, the Burak Çukurova-Vedat Bostancı crew, entered privately in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX, took victory. In Class 4, one of the most hotly contested classes, the two-wheel-drive win went to Ümitcan Özdemir-Afşin Baydar of Castrol Ford Team Türkiye in a Ford Fiesta R2, with Ümitcan Özdemir also winning the Young Drivers' title. The Class 3 win went to the privately entered Kerim Tar-Sevilay Genç crew in a Ford Fiesta ST, while Burcu Çetinkaya of Deltasport took the Female Drivers' title and Emire Cantürk, competing alongside Ercan Kazaz for Bonus Unifree Parkur Racing, won the Female Co-drivers' title.
PARKUR RACING ON TOP IN HISTORIC
In the historic class, open to classic rally cars over 30 years old, three crews from Bonus Unifree Parkur Racing in Ford Escort MK2s made up the overall podium and the Category 2 podium. Engin Kap-Başar Yavuz, historic champions for the past four years, added another win to their run in Kocaeli, while the Finnish crew Hannu Pulkkinen-Juha Rahkonen, competing on a Turkish licence this season, took second and Burak Türkkan-Yakup Baştımar third. Seven of the nine crews that started in the historic class made it to the finish. In Category 1, Emre Hasbay-Saipcan Hasbay won for Deltasport in a Fiat 131. Second in Category 1 went to Gerçek-Bahar Sunman in a similar car, with Gökhan Şahinoğlu-Deniz Ertem third in a VW Golf MK1.
ANTALYA TAKES TOSFED CUP VICTORY
The TOSFED Rally Cup, created to give amateur drivers the chance to compete on lower budgets, was another class at the Ford Otosan Kocaeli Rally. Ten crews from different provinces started in the TOSFED Rally Cup. In Category 1, Mehmet Civelek-Bülent Altınok from Antalya won in a Fiat Palio, and also took first place in the overall classification. The other category winners were Alptekin Işıkalp-Selin Özgür from Istanbul in a Citroen C2 in Category 2, the brothers Tansel and Yüksel Karasu from Kocaeli in a Peugeot 206 RC in Category 3, and Osman Karaosman-Serdar Yalçın from Bursa in an Opel Astra G in Category 5.
CHAMPIONSHIP CONTINUES IN TRNC
The 2015 Turkish Rally Championship continues with the TRNC Rally, organised by KKTOK in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on 10-11 October.
