16 May 2003 - 13:09 Yazici Aiming to Win Tofas Rally European championship: Rally of Turkey - Preview

The 3rd Round of the European Rally Championships, the 32nd TOFAS Rally of Turkey, takes place from the 16th to 18th of May and is based in the town of Izmir, about 500 kms. South of Istanbul. In this event will participate 55 crews from Turkey and 6 from other countries. Two bulgarian teams are requested participation - Georgi Yanakiev, Boris Ignatov with Citoren Saxo and Stoyan Apostolov, Pavlina Apostolova with Fiat Palio.

Three times Turkish Champion, Serkan Yazici is considered by many as one of the favourites for the event. He is now sponsored by Ford Turkey and will be driving a Ford Focus WRC. His form is good as he won his first rally of the season, the EGE Rally, and set fastest times on all of the stages. The 32 year old hotel manager who was third in the 2000 World Team Cup, has a clear tactic - ”I plan to go as fast as I can without damaging the car…and I think that local knowledge will be important.” If he is right then his main foreign rivals will be in for a surprise.

Bruno Thiry, the vastly experienced Belgian, has only been in Turkey once before and that was in the same rally in 2000. On that occasion he retired on stage 1 in his Citroen Xsara after hitting a wall. Since then the organisers have moved the rally from Bursa to Izmir and both the roads and conditions are new to him. “I see my main threat coming from the roads. The Turkish tarmac is fairly recent and in good condition. Consequently they are very abrasive on the tyres. The roads are often dirty and because it rarely rains, the tarmac is covered with a fine layer of dust. And there will be more dust and stones thrown up by the cars that “cut” their way very deep into the corners”, said Thiry.
 
Evgeny Vasin, in the Itera backed Peugeot 206 WRC, is also a newcomer to Turkey, although he was there last year as a team member and he recognises that the tarmac will play a crucial role. “I will try from the very first special stage to understand the way to save the tyres which seems to me to be the main problem for the rally. The roads are dirty, the special stages are long and there is a high air temperature, but I am really looking forward to it,” added the Russian.

The TOFAS Rally of Turkey begins and ends at the 72nd Izmir International Fair. The rally is 998.44 kms. long, it is divided into 3 legs with 15 special stages totalling 286.1 kms.

Miguel Campos from Portugal is the current leader in the European Rally Championships having won both of the opening events in Italy and Spain. He is not competing in this event... but you can be sure he will be closely following the results. With no points to his credit so far, Bruno Thiry knows that the pressure is on. “I am anxious to prove who is “The Boss” in this very competitive Championship,” he declared.

Will it be Serkan Yazici, Bruno Thiry or Evgeny Vasin who makes it to the top of the winners podium ...well... we will have to wait until 1600 hrs on Sunday. One thing is for sure... the 32nd TOFAS Rally of Turkey will be interesting, exciting and certain to hold a lot of surprises.

Press Release 12.05.2003
Roger Ebben for Chris Courteyn
International Press Officer