The Last Rally Kings Are Coming

Some 20 years ago, when the then TOSFED president Mümtaz Tahincioğlu got Turkey onto the World Rally Championship calendar, he was welcomed at the airport with banners. Years later, when Serkan Yazıcı, now honorary president, brought the country back onto the WRC calendar despite all the global image pressures, I was in the team that greeted him at the airport in the same way. On one side there was the FIA lobby of other countries wanting to get onto the calendar, on the other the budget requirement for WRC. Against all of it, and with the support of the state, a place on the calendar was secured.

From the first candidate event to the last, we have always been a country that earns good marks from FIA observers on the sporting side. In recent years we have also passed the inspections of 'Pasha Michele Mouton', famed for her ruthlessness on safety standards, and Mouton, who has cancelled stages even at the now-cult European rallies, has not cancelled a single one of our stages to date. Especially after last year's Marmaris rally, full of crashes, fires, broken suspensions, burst tyres and plenty of action, many authorities around the world agreed that it was "finally a rally that suits the spirit of the sport".

But in global competition, every country is working to get its own events onto the calendar. Right now there is heavy pressure from the Safari Rally to get on. However much they say "the Safari spirit has returned with Marmaris", at the end of the day there is global competition. The biggest pressure comes from Japan, the home country of Japanese manufacturer Toyota. The Japanese, who have no spectator problem and have traditional stages, want to see their own brand on home soil. For all of this to happen, another rally would have to leave the calendar, because a new rally means extra budget for the teams, and that is definitely not something they want.

Our rally, meanwhile, has positioned itself in a very different place. Rally Turkey has become a rally like New Zealand or Australia in its coastal setting, as fast as Finland in places, as punishing as Acropolis, and as tactical as Safari. Among those reading these lines there are friends who have travelled abroad to watch rallies. They know far better how special this event is, now that it has come right to our doorstep. I have been to every event since our candidate rally, the Anatolian Rally, and in 2008 I even had the chance to compete as a driver in Ford overalls. In my view, WRC is one of the biggest international events to have come to our country within a given period, and we should not miss any opportunity to be part of it.

I don't want to write about the championship standings, last year's winner Ott Tänak, or the possibility that this could be Ogier's final season. Those who follow the sporting side of WRC already know all of that in great detail. I think WRC has a very different spirit. Last year's rally really became the one most used in the season highlights. With its stages watched from the sea, its punishing nature and its competition, it was iconic. Whether from a venue around Marmaris or Datça, or from a camp by your tent near the stages, you have the chance to watch the fastest drivers in the world. I have been sharing in-car videos a lot lately, and it's clear that our rally is coming :)

See you in Marmaris…