‘Speeding on challenging roads characterizes Rally Turkey'

MUGLA, Turkey

The air is filled with suspense as the four-day Rally Turkey will come to an end on Sunday, where the racers are returning to the rocky surfaces in the country’s north on the final day.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) wants this rally to secure its identity that is marked by roughness, rocky, dusty and challenging roads, the Head of Turkey's Automobile Sports Federation (TOSFED) Eren Uclertopragi told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.

“This is the characteristic of this race," he said. Opining on who can win the rally, he stressed rather the fastest, the one with smartest drive coupled with good strategy and more so, the one, who also protects his car better, will win the race. "Therefore, we are happy with this plan of stages. Nature of rally contains rocks and dust, watching out for the car as well as high speed," Uclertopragi added.

As every successful game accompanies with adrenaline running, "the challenging stages of Rally Turkey also bring a different excitement to the race with very changeable standings", where racers invest everything to beat the time and surface, according to the head of the federation.

He reminded the last year's race where every day had a different leader. “Everything has so far passed smoothly," Uclertopragi said. He added that the drivers are also happy with the organization, though stages are quite challenging for them.

"We made a great organization last year and this has put an extra stress and responsibility on our shoulders for this year's event," he said.

Rally Turkey returned to the WRC calendar last year after a 10-year-break. The head of TOSFED also said the participation in 2019 is significantly higher than the previous event, citing Thursday's shakedown, warm-up, stage where 60,000-70,000 spectators were watching the event at Marmaris' marina area.

"We are introducing our nation to 150 countries and 850 million people. We also generate a handsome income in terms of sports tourism," Uclertopragi said, adding that Turkey is showing quality in sports and organization areas, while introducing southwestern Mugla province internationally.

"It's a win-win situation," he concluded.