22 Май 2003 - 18:54 Success for Thiry and Peugeot Belgium in Rallye of Turkey European Rally Championship coefficient 20

Bruno Thiry, Peugeot 206 WRC, won The 32nd TOFAS Rally of Turkey. He led the rally for all of the 15 stages and the margin at the finish over his closest rival... Serkan Yazici was 5min. 20.8 secs. The victory nets him 200 European Rally Championship points and closes the gap to the leader, Miguel Campos, who was not taking part in this rally.

The Belgian was the pre-race favourite although the local driver Serkan Yazici who had won a local rally two weeks earlier in his Ford Focus WRC was also a candidate. The rally began at the International Fair in Izmir and all the stages were in the hills overlooking the Aegean, south of the city.

Thiry won all 3 stages on the opening day and built up a lead of 11.6 seconds. The roads were very dirty and he didn't want to risk punctures or other problems. On day 2 he increased his advantage over Yazici to 45.6 secs. after the first two stages... because the Turkish driver experienced difficulties with his tyres and the set-up on his Focus. After stage 11, the last of the day, the Belgian's lead had increased to 1 myn. O1.4 secs without him being especially extended.

The final day consisted of just 4 stages... but 3 of them were over 30 kms long. The experienced Belgian added to his lead on the first of these and then on the penultimate stage Yazici had a double puncture and was down to the rims when he reached the finish. The Turk had damaged his bumper, brakes and headlights and had dropped to over 5 minutes behind.

Thiry duly won the final stage and recorded his first victory of the season in the European Rally Championships.

The contest in the S1600 class was close throughout. Volkan Isik in a Fiat Punto led until one stage from the end when he punctured early on... was forced to change tyres and slipped down to third in the class, 5th overall. Paolo Andreucci in a Fiat Palio won and was 3rd overall with Ercan Kazaz second and fourth overall. Celal Gulerhan won Gr. N and was 7th overall.

Rally of Turkey - Final results:

1 Thiry-Fortin, Peugeot 206 WRC, 3h04'28"7
2 Yazici-Okan, Ford Focus WRC, +5'20"8
3 Andreucci-Andreussi, Fiat Palio S1600, +9'28"6
4 Kazaz-Gur, Citroen Saxo S1600, +10'29"0
5 Isik-Guleren, Fiat Punto S1600, +12'09"8
6 Genim-Atilgan, Renault Megane, +15'25"1
7 Gulerhan-Dincer, Mitsubishi Lancer, +16'23"1
8 Akdilek-Uluocak, Subaru Impreza, +16'35"8
9 Cukurova-Alpay, Ford Puma, +19'22"7
10 Sengezener-Ozsenler, Fiat Palio, +19'29"9