Turkish Rally Championship Battle Continues in Eskişehir
The fifth round of the 2016 Turkish Rally Championship, Eskişehir Rally, was organised on 3-4 September 2016 by the Eskişehir Otomobil Sporları Kulübü, known as ESOK. The event was supported by Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality, Espark, KYK, Mantotherm, Banaz Otomotiv, Anemon Hotel, Eskişehir Chamber of Commerce and Tepebaşı Municipality, and attracted 51 cars and 102 competitors.
COMPETITION IN THE MUCH-MISSED NIGHT STAGES
The rally began on Saturday 3 September with a start in front of Espark, and the first stages run were those dedicated to the memory of Şerif Yardımcı, Taner Türkkan and Ömer Banaz, who have passed away in recent years. After these three special stages, the crews continued the fight on the spectator stage built by Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality next to the bus station. They then completed servicing and refuelling at the service park opposite Sazova Park, ran three stages at night and wrapped up the day.
Yağız Avcı-Bahadır Gücenmez, competing for Neo Motorspor with the support of Peugeot Sport Türkiye, finished the day in the lead, 58.1 seconds ahead of Castrol Ford Team Türkiye's Orhan Avcıoğlu-Burçin Korkmaz. On a first day that saw intense competition, particularly in the night stages, BC Vision Motorsport's Burak Çukurova-Vedat Bostancı sat third in a Citroen DS3 R5 Evo.
THE FIGHT CONTINUED ON DAY TWO
The crews returned to the wheel on the morning of the second day and continued their battle on the Cahit Alkan and Aydan Akal stages. Spectators, who were taken to the stages on free shuttle services from in front of Espark by ESOK, followed the rally with great excitement, and 42 cars made it to the finish.
After two days of competition, Neo Motorspor's Avcı-Gücenmez, supported by Peugeot Sport Türkiye, won Eskişehir Rally and maintained their lead in the Turkish Rally Championship. Orhan Avcıoğlu-Burçin Korkmaz, driving a Ford Fiesta S2000 for Castrol Ford Team Türkiye, took second place overall, while BC Vision Motorsport's Burak Çukurova-Vedat Bostancı finished third in a Citroen DS3 R5 Evo.
COMPETITION IN THE CLASSES WAS AT A HIGH LEVEL
At the finish podium in front of Espark on Sunday evening, BC Vision Motorsport's Ahmet Burkay-Bilge Ayan took the Class 3 win in a Citroen DS3 R3T, while Class 4 went to Buğra Banaz-Burak Erdener in a Ford Fiesta R2T for Castrol Ford Team Türkiye. Buğra also won the rally's "Best Young Driver" award, while the "Best Young Co-driver" award went to Uğurtan Ünal, who competed alongside Can Altınok. In Class N, Neo Motorspor's Simin Bıçakcıoğlu-Serkan Okan came out on top in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX, while the Class 5 fight was won by privateers Ömer Köstek-Deniz Gülcan in a Nissan Micra. The rally's best female co-driver was Sevilay Genç, who sat alongside Ümitcan Özdemir in a Ford Fiesta R2T for Castrol Ford Team Türkiye.
TÜRKKAN'S FIRST WIN IN THE HISTORICS
Rally cars over 35 years old continued to defy the years in Eskişehir. Among the 12 historic crews that started, the fastest were Burak Türkkan-Onur Aslan in a Ford Escort MK2 for Parkur Historic, while second place went to Engin Kap-Özden Yılmaz in a similar car for Bonus Unifree Parkur Racing. Third in this classification went to Kemal Gamgam-Erhan Arıkan, again in a Ford Escort MK2, while the Category 1 winners were Sinan Dündar-Sedef Dündar in a VW Golf MK1.
11 CREWS COMPETE IN THE YUSUF ARAMACI CUP
In the Yusuf Aramacı Rally Cup, which featured 11 crews, the wins were shared by Murat Güray-Hürol Menderes in a Fiat Palio in Category 1, the father-and-daughter crew of Yüksel-Selin Özgür in a Citroen C2 R2 in Category 2, and Erkan Yanıkoğlu-Bora Yılmaz in a Renault Clio Sport in Category 3.
After this rally, Yağız Avcı-Bahadır Gücenmez continue to lead the championship with 73 points, while Castrol Ford Team Türkiye top the Teams' Championship with 103.4 points.
The 2016 Turkish Rally Championship continues with Istanbul Rally, to be organised by the Istanbul Otomobil Sporları Kulübü on 24-25 September.
