Written by Evan Rothman
At the end of each season in Istanbul, Turkey, an exciting adn highly-competitive three-round rally series is held to boost the profile of rallying in this area. The Istanbul Rally Championship, which started on 28 November and ends on 26 December, starts from the Viaport Shopping Centre and is supported by thousands of spectators lining the rally stages.
The first event on 28 November was won by Okur Menderes and Aras Dincer (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX), thrashing their rivals over the four demanding stages of this spectator-friendly event. A total of 53 cars took to the stages, including a number of S2000 machines.
As with throughout 2010, HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS closely followed the progress of Burcu Burkut Erenkul (Ford Fiesta ST). Supported by Sonax and Tissot, this young and upcoming rally star hopes to follow in the footsteps of Burcu Cetinkaya (participating in the Intercontinental rally Challenge series in a Peugeot 207 S2000).
In this first round of the Istanbul Rally Championship, Erenkul came home as the first of seven ladies drivers, second in the Junior Drivers category and third in Class N3.
With round two taking place this weekend, Erenkul expects stiffer rivalry over the four stages but will be pushing harder to claim more valuable points.
Aiming for a successful outing in this short series, Erenkul aims to compete in selected rounds of the Italian Rally Championship along with her Turkish Rally Championship events in her Ford Fiesta ST.