Mithat Diker on the Podium at Rally Eskişehir

Mithat Diker, who has competed without a break for 52 years and most recently took part in last year's 100th Anniversary Rally in Bolu on 29 October, started Rally Eskişehir, round five of the Petrol Ofisi Maxima 2024 Turkish Rally Championship.

The Mithat Diker-Erdal Oral crew competed in the Celal Gülerhan TOSFED Rally Cup class with support from Ege Asal Metal, driving a Ford Fiesta R1 for the first time in Eskişehir. Racing without first gear over the first two days of the rally, Diker and Oral retired on the third stage of day two with a gearbox failure, and continued the following day under Super Rally.

The experienced driver Diker was among the 44 crews to reach the finish out of the 59 that started, and despite all the mechanical problems managed to take a place on the podium as Category 1 third-place finisher in the Celal Gülerhan TOSFED Rally Cup.