Avcıoğlu-Korkmaz Win Rally Kocaeli
The third round of the 2016 Turkish Rally Championship, the Ford Otosan Rally Kocaeli, was held on 11-12 June by the Kocaeli Automobile Sports Club (KOSDER) with 48 cars and 96 competitors taking part. Starting on Saturday 11 June from in front of the 41 Burda AVM, the crews battled over eight stages across two days.
The rally came to an end on the evening of Sunday 12 June with the finish podium and prize-giving ceremony in front of the 41 Burda AVM. The stages were named in memory of KOSDER officials Mehmet Kolaylı and İlker Elbir, and former competitor Mehmet Sadık Efe, who passed away in recent years, and 34 cars made it to the finish.
AVCIOĞLU-KORKMAZ ON TOP
At the end of the demanding two-day rally, the Orhan Avcıoğlu-Burçin Korkmaz crew, driving a Ford Fiesta S2000 for Castrol Ford Team Türkiye this season, won the Ford Otosan Rally Kocaeli by a margin of 57.3 seconds. Second place went to Murat Bostancı-Onur Vatansever in a Ford Fiesta R5 from the same team, while the Burak Çukurova-Vedat Bostancı crew, competing in a Peugeot 208 T16 R5 for the newly formed BC Vision Motorspor, reached the finish podium in third. The Yağız Avcı-Bahadır Gücenmez crew, driving a Peugeot 208 T16 R5 for Neo Motorspor, were unable to complete the rally after a clutch failure before the start of the final stage. The Red Bull Power Stage, introduced this year to heighten competition in the championship, was won by Avcıoğlu, with Bostancı and Çukurova behind, and with these results the crews carried extra points into both the overall and their class standings.
CLASS BATTLES WERE FIERCE
The Dağhan Ünlüdoğan-Aras Dinçer crew, driving a Peugeot 208 R2 for BC Vision Motorspor, took the Class 4 win, while the other class winners were Uğur Soylu-Emir Şahin in Class N, in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX for Neo Motorspor; Ahmet Burkay-Bilge Ayan in Class 3, in a Citroen DS3 R3T for BC Vision Motorspor; and Emrah Ali Başo-Gürkal Menderes in Class 5, as privateers in a Ford Fiesta R1. The leading female driver was Simin Bıçakcıoğlu, competing with Serkan Okan for Neo Motorspor, while the leading female co-driver was Sevilay Genç, competing with Ümitcan Özdemir for Castrol Ford Team Türkiye. The top young driver of the rally was Buğra Banaz of Castrol Ford Team Türkiye, while the top young co-driver was Uğurtan Ünal, who competed with Can Altınok.
HISTORICS DEFY THE YEARS
Rally cars over 35 years old continued to defy the years in Kocaeli. The fastest of the nine historic crews to start was Engin Kap-Özden Yılmaz in a Ford Escort MK2 for Bonus Unifree Parkur Racing, with Kemal Gamgam-Orkun Demir taking second, also in a Ford Escort MK2. Third in this classification went to Timur Özkan-Engin Dilben in a Ford Fiesta MK1, making their first start of the season in Kocaeli, and the crew also won Category 1.
YEŞİL BURSA RALLY IS NEXT
After Kocaeli, the Turkish Rally Championship continues in Bursa on 23-24 July. The gravel-surface Yeşil Bursa Rally, organised by the Bursa Automobile Sports Club (BOSSEK), will host breathtaking battles in the Orhaneli-Keles region amid Bursa's magnificent natural beauty.
