Petrol Ofisi Maxima 2026 Turkish Rally Championship Round 3 / Cappadocia

Cappadocia Rally, the fourth event of the Petrol Ofisi Maxima 2026 Turkish Rally Championship, ended with victory for the Kerem Kazaz-Corentin Silvestre crew. Competing for Team Petrol Ofisi, the young Kazaz also took the Class 2 and Young Drivers wins on the rally and extended his lead in the Turkish Rally Championship. The battle, played out amid Cappadocia's natural and cultural beauty, saw the Ali Türkkan-Bilge Ayan crew from Castrol Ford Team Türkiye finish second, while the Uğur Soylu-Mehmet Akif Yalçın crew from GP Garage My Team took third overall.

The event was organised by Başkent Touring Sports Club with 45 cars and 90 competitors, and with the support of the Nevşehir Governorship, Nevşehir Municipality, the Cappadocia Area Directorate, Remed Assistance, Salados, Fora, Power App, Forum Kapadokya, Evofone, Otokar, Garenta and TRT Spor. It concluded on the evening of Sunday 23 August with the finish ceremony and prize-giving at the Paşa Bağları archaeological site.

The rally, which saw tough battles in the hot weather, was won in the teams classification by Team Petrol Ofisi, while Ali Türkkan-Bilge Ayan of Castrol Ford Team Türkiye took the Class 3 win. The Yıldıray Demircioğlu-Koray Akgün crew were the fastest in Class 4 and the two-wheel-drive classification, while Uğur Kaban-Melih Uygur won Class 5. Sevgi Aktürk-Begüm Uludağ stepped onto the finish podium as Class N winners, and the crew also took the female drivers' and female co-drivers' wins.

Over three days on a route taking in Avanos, Nevşehir and Ürgüp, the Behiç Yurdaçalışan TOSFED Rally Cup classification was won by the Gürol Baranlı-Melih Uygur pairing. The Ankara-based crew also took the Category 4 win. The father-and-daughter crew of Sadık Bilgimer-Buğçe Bilgimer, who travelled to the event from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, finished second overall in the cup and won Category 5, while third in the cup went to another crew from the TRNC, Yusuf Ömür Cambaz-Ahmet Behlül. The category wins were shared by Murat Çetin-Derya Ulus in Category 3, Baran Demirkan-Tarık Doğançay in Category 2 and Berat Yıldırım-Onur Sırımoğlu in Category 1. Buse Bilgimer won the cup's female drivers' award, while Buğçe Bilgimer took the female co-drivers' award.

The Petrol Ofisi Maxima 2026 Turkish Rally Championship continues with Eskişehir Rally, organised by Eskişehir Automobile Sports Club (EOSK) on 19-20 September.

Video: Official YouTube channel of the Turkish Automobile Sports Federation (TOSFED)