ÜCO Takes Championship Lead in Eskişehir Rally

The third round of the Petrol Ofisi Maxima 2023 Turkish Rally Championship, the Odunpazarı Eskişehir Rally, was held on 9-11 June, organised by Eskişehir Automobile Sports Club (ESOK) with the support of ICRYPEX, Odunpazarı Municipality, Banaz Otomotiv, KYK, Nova Vista Hotel, Tecno Mobile, Sancaklı Metal Yapı and Espark. A total of 67 cars and 134 competitors battled over eight stages on a tarmac route of 373.80 km across two days, with Ümit Can Özdemir-Batuhan Memişyazıcı of GP Garage My Team taking the overall win. The crew also won Class 2 and moved back into the championship lead. Burak Çukurova-Burak Akçay of BC Vision Motorsport finished the rally second, while Ali Türkkan-Burak Erdener of Castrol Ford Team Türkiye completed the podium in third overall, also winning Class 3 and the Junior drivers' category. Over two days in which seconds made the difference and every category saw fierce competition, Castrol Ford Team Türkiye won the Manufacturers' title and GP Garage My Team won the Teams' title. In the Masters category, Uğur Soylu of GP Garage My Team took another win, with Ogün Okat of Neo Motorspor second and Erhan Akbaş of GP Garage My Team third. Buğra Can Kılıç-Yusuf Çalık of GP Garage My Team won Class 4 and the 2WD category, Sinan Soylu-Özgür Akdağ of the same team won Class N, and Tuncer Sancaklı-Asena Sancaklı of BC Vision Motorsport won Class 5. Sevgi Aktürk of Neo Motorspor won the female drivers' category and Asena Sancaklı the female co-drivers' category, while Begüm Uludağ, who competed alongside Sevgi Aktürk, was the best junior co-driver. In the historic classification, open to classic rally cars, Kerim Tar-Efe Ersoy of Parkur Racing took the win and Category 2 honours, with Kemal Gamgam-Orkun Demir of Castrol Ford Team Türkiye second and Tan-Selda Çağlayan third to complete the podium. The Çağlayan pairing also won Category 1, and Selda Çağlayan took the female co-driver award in the historic classification. In the Erkan Bodur TOSFED Rally Cup classification, Ahmet Keskin-Kerem Deveci of Neo Motorspor won overall and Category 3, while Erdem İlbaylı-Soner Çevik of Castrol Ford Team Türkiye took second overall and won Category 2. Third overall went to Serdar Kaan Yalçın-Güray Akgün, while Kaan Kara-Taner Kara won Category 1 and Kemal Çetinkaya-Tolga Tezeken won Category 4 in the cup. Çiğdem Tümerkan, who competed with her daughter Zeynep Tümerkan, was the best female driver, and Cansu Açar, who competed with Sinan Yardımedici, was the best female co-driver.