Fierce Fight on Track

The 2015 season of the Turkish Circuit Racing Championship, which saw intense battles and a string of track records tumble last year, got under way on Sunday 19 April with 15 drivers taking part and two races each for the Super and Maxi groups.

At the races organised by Ülkü Motorsporları Kulübü at the İzmir Park circuit, Ümit Ülkü won the first Maxi Group race in a Porsche 997 GT3, with Bilal Saygılı second in a Porsche 991 GT3 and Galip Atar third in a Porsche 997 GT3. In the second Maxi Group race, leader Ümit Ülkü retired with a mechanical failure, while Ahmet Mutlubaş and Bilal Saygılı, who had been fighting bumper to bumper, were forced out after contact on the final lap sent them off the track. İsmet Toktaş took the win in the second race in a Porsche 997 GT3, with Galip Atar second and Ali Özerinç third in similar cars.

In the Super group too, drivers fought tooth and nail in the first round of competition to put the first points of the season on the board. Ümit Ülkü won both 20-lap races in a Honda Civic Type-R EP3, while Galip Atar took one second place and one third in a BMW320 TC, and Ahmet Mutlubaş took one third and one second in a Honda Civic Type-R FN2... In this group, 16-year-old Kuzey Eroldu, who has moved up from karting to circuit racing, impressed with the performance in a first outing on a circuit.

The second round of the Turkish Circuit Racing Championship, together with the second round of the TOSFED Circuit Cup, will be held at Körfez Yarış Pisti on 23-24 May…