Gürel Takes First Cup Win of the Season in TOSFED Rally Cup

The excitement in the Shell Helix 2022 Turkish Rally Championship, organised by the Turkish Automobile Sports Federation (TOSFED), began with Rally Bodrum in Bodrum, Muğla, on 15-17 April. The opening rally of the 2022 season, backed by title sponsor ICRYPEX, also awarded points in the TOSFED Rally Cup, run in memory of Oğuz Gürsel, one of the doyens of Turkish motorsport. In the opening round of the season, which saw 23 crews compete across four categories, Hakan Gürel - Çağatay Kolaylı of Castrol Ford Team Türkiye set the fastest time on five of the six special stages on the way to victory. The crew from Kocaeli, who also won Category 2 on domestically developed Petlas rally tyres, took the lead of the cup standings. Another crew from the same team, Levent Şapçılar - Deniz Gümüş from Izmir, took second place in the cup classification and won Category 1 in a Ford Fiesta R1, while Ömer Yetiş - Çağlar Süren, driving a Renault Clio Ragnotti, finished third in the cup classification and won Category 3. In Category 4, Erhan Akbaş - Ersen Yıldız of GP Garage My Team took the win in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX. The six-rally cup will continue on 28-29 May with Yeşil Bursa Rally, organised by the Bursa Automobile Sports Club (BOSSEK), which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.