Tofaş Takes Historic Honours at Rally Phrygia

The opening round of both the Balkan Rally Cup and the Turkish Rally Championship, Rally Phrygia was organised by the Eskişehir Otomobil Sporları Kulübü (ESOK) and attracted 45 crews. The historic rally classification also produced a fierce fight. Among the rally cars over 35 years old, split into Category 1 and Category 2 by engine capacity, the fastest crew was Levent Gür-Oytun Albayrak in their Murat 131. Gür and Albayrak also took the Category 1 class win, while Gerçek Sunman-Bahar Sunman, driving a similar 131, finished second in the historic classification. Haydar Güçlü-Hakan Kanca, back in the championship after a short break with a 1968 BMW 2002 Ti, reached the podium in third and also won Category 2. In a VW Golf GTI MK1, Nüvit Karakaşlı-Tuğkan Erden finished fourth overall and third in Category 1, while Üstün Üstünkaya-Özden Yılmaz of Parkur Racing, starting their first rally, took fifth and second in Category 2 in a Ford Escort MKII. Bursa-based Yılmaz Köprücü-Özcan Opçin, competing in an Opel Kadett D with support from FKT Koltuk Sistemleri, and Uygar Birgili-Deniz Gümüş from Izmir in a BMW 315 were the crews who failed to finish because of mechanical failure.