Yazıcı: Safety Is Our First Priority

Serkan Yazıcı, president of the Turkish Automobile Sports Federation who took office for a four-year term after the general assembly held in December, reviewed the 2016 season and outlined his targets for 2017. Yazıcı said that raising the quality of events and safety would be the most important priorities in the coming period.

Yazıcı stated that safety measures at events would be stepped up as a priority, saying: "We won't stop at simply increasing safety measures. To change the 'rich kids' entertainment' image in the eyes of the public, we will use public service announcements and social responsibility projects to explain to people that motorsport is safe and that the real wrong is speeding on the streets. Safety will be our first priority in the coming period."

Saying that there should be a race circuit in every province, Yazıcı said: "If we are going to tell young people 'don't speed on the streets, use race circuits', we have to build these circuits. Besides sporting events, these circuits will also be used for traffic safety and correct driving education. In other words, they will take on an important role in terms of social responsibility too."

Recalling that they came into office last year through an extraordinary general assembly, Yazıcı explained that the first thing they did was provide financial support to the clubs organising national events. Yazıcı said: "The clubs were pleased with this approach and the quality of the events improved. We handed out racing tyres as an incentive to our competitors who finished in the top three of their classes in all national disciplines. In this way we showed the value we place on our competitors."

Explaining that they had faced some problems with Körfez Race Circuit, the federation's only facility, and had done whatever was necessary to avoid legally losing the track, Yazıcı continued: "We made a serious investment in the circuit. We renovated the garages, repaired the damaged sections of asphalt and the toilets, and added new ones. We now have a facility that I can call complete and of high quality. In May we held a wonderful festival in Marmaris. It was a first, as classic cars, rally and off-road racing took place at the same time. We received very positive feedback from the public, the media and the competitors. That was a sign that we can do great things when we come together. This year we also launched the 'Velinin Karnesi Nasıl' project, aimed at primary school pupils. As part of the project, our women's committee holds seminars and champion drivers give pupils basic information on traffic safety and motorsport. The pupils then check whether their mothers obey the rules in traffic and give them marks on the report cards that are handed out. The mothers with the highest scores are given professional training."

Serkan Yazıcı said that the first event of 2017 would be the "Champion of Champions", a fairground-style event in which the champions and national team drivers from all disciplines will compete in a knockout format in equal cars, and gave the following information about projects aimed at developing new drivers: "We plan to agree a deal with a major car manufacturer and give a race car to each of our organising clubs. In this project, each club will enter one driver, chosen through slalom events held by age group. In fact, this is a project to find talented young drivers. We will support the young drivers we discover and get them competing in the Turkish Championship. The system will keep developing in this way, and so we will bring through new drivers."

Stressing that motorsport's contribution to promoting the country is starting to be better understood, Yazıcı continued: "I am sure that drivers talented enough to succeed on the world stage will emerge in Turkey too. We will support the drivers. If we don't support them and can't take the Turkish flag abroad, there is no point in my sitting in this seat. In Belgium, for example, the federation's annual budget for driver development is 7 million dollars. I am fully confident that we will get the necessary support on this front too. Because we also have young drivers talented enough to achieve success in Europe and worldwide, such as Berkay Besler, Ayhancan Güven, Yağız Avcı, Murat Bostancı, Orhan Avcıoğlu and Kaan Önder."

Explaining that they aim to bring drivers through to the world championships, Yazıcı said: "In a country of 80 million people, someone with the talent of Sébastien Loeb is bound to emerge. One day a Turkish driver will win Formula 1 and the WRC, but when? We are working to lay the foundations for that. With the solid steps we take, it may happen in 10 or perhaps 20 years. Our aim is to make long-term plans rather than focus on the short term. We will present our driver development projects to our Ministry and do whatever is necessary."

Finally, saying "First of all, we need to get the community moving", Yazıcı added that they want to grant the naming rights to the nine disciplines run as championships in Turkey at very reasonable prices, and that as things grow over time the benefit to partners will grow too, so that everyone will win.