The Rally of Turkey (also known as Anatolian Rally) is a

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...

competition on the FIA

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

(WRC) schedule.

History

First international rally in Turkey was held in 1972, starting and finishing in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. In 1999, the idea of creating an all-new event as a WRC candidate was conceived. The next year in 2000, the Anatolian Rally based in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

was born. After being observed by the FIA, the rally became an official reserve event for the WRC. Antalya and Kemer, a holiday region in southwestern Turkey was chosen in 2001 as the start and finish venue for the Anatolian Rally adopting a WRC format. In 2002, first foreign entries took part,

Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb (; born 26 February 1974) is a French professional rally, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nine times in a row. He ho ...

in a

Citroën Saxo The Citroën Saxo is a supermini produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1996 to 2003. It was sold in Japan as the Citroën Chanson, because Honda had registered the "Saxo" name. The Saxo was a development of the Citroën AX and Peu ...

and

Juuso Pykälistö Juuso Pykälistö (born 21 May 1975) is a Finnish rally driver, born in Padasjoki. He has driven in the World Rally Championship with Citroën and Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family busines ...

in a

Peugeot 206 WRC The Peugeot 206 WRC is a World Rally Car based on the Peugeot 206. It was used by Peugeot Sport, Peugeot's factory team, in the World Rally Championship from 1999 to 2003. The car brought Peugeot the manufacturers' world title three consecutive ...

. Turkey debuted in the World Rally Championship in the 2003 season in which only 27 of the 62 entries finished. The first two years were dedicated to

Junior World Rally Championship The FIA Junior WRC Championship is an international rallying series restricted to drivers under 29 years old, running within the framework of the World Rally Championship. The series is governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobi ...

(JWRC) for gaining experience. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, the Rally of Turkey hosted for the first time

Production Car World Rally Championship The FIA Production car World Rally Championship, or PWRC, was a companion rally series to the World Rally Championship, contested mainly by Group N rally cars. History The series started in 1987 as ''FIA Cup for Production Rally Drivers'' and ...

(PWRC) drivers. 76 rally teams took part in the 2005 Rally of Turkey. Only 53 teams finished the total distance of 1,228 km. Repeating his victory of previous year, Sébastien Loeb of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

won the cup at 4.21.48.00' with his

co-driver A co-driver is the navigator of a rally car in the sport of rallying, who sits in the front passenger seat. The co-driver's job is to navigate, commonly by reading off a set of pacenotes to the driver (what lies ahead, where to turn, the severity ...

Daniel Elena Daniel Elena (born 26 October 1972) also known as "Danos" is a Monégasque rally co-driver working most notably with Sébastien Loeb. Between them the pair have won the World Rally Championship (WRC) nine times with Citroën, later competing w ...

. The 2006 event was held from October 13 to October 15, 2006 around

Kemer Kemer is a seaside resort, municipality and district of Antalya Province, Turkey. Its area is 412 km2, and its population is 49,383 (2022). It is on the Mediterranean coast, west of the city of Antalya, on the Turkish Riviera. Kemer is o ...

– Kumluca –

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

in southwestern

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

on rough, gravel roads up into occasionally snowy mountain roads. Rally headquarters and the service park were located in Kemer. The Rally of Turkey returned to the WRC calendar in for the 2008 season. The 2008 Rally of Turkey took place between June 12–15 and was won by

Mikko Hirvonen Mikko Hirvonen (born 31 July 1980) is a Finnish former rally driver, and a current Rally-Raid driver, who drove in the World Rally Championship. He placed third in the drivers' championship and helped Ford to the manufacturers' title in both 2 ...

ahead of

Jari-Matti Latvala Jari-Matti Latvala (; born 3 April 1985) is a Finnish rally driver who has competed in the World Rally Championship (WRC). His co-driver for most of his career was Miikka Anttila, who co-drove for Latvala between the 2003 Rallye Deutschland and ...

and

. The rally was removed from the calendar after the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

event. The Rally of Turkey was revived for the 2018 championship as a replacement for

Rally Poland The Rally of Poland (in Polish, ''Rajd Polski'') is a motorsport event for rally cars that was first established in 1921. It is third-oldest rally in the world, preceded only by Österreichische Alpenfahrt and Monte Carlo Rally. The event becam ...

. The event was based in the town of

Marmaris Marmaris () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Muğla Province, Turkey. Its area is 906 km2, and its population is 97,818 (2022). It is a port city and tourist resort on the Aegean Sea, Mediterranean coast, along the shorel ...

Muğla Province Muğla Province (, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey, at the country's southwestern corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its area is 12,654 km2, and its population is 1 ...

Winners

''Pink background indicates that in that year the rally was not part of

WRC WRC may refer to: Broadcasting stations * WRC-TV, a television station (virtual channel 4, digital channel 34) licensed to Washington, D.C., United States * Several radio stations in the Washington, D.C. area: ** WWRC, a radio station (570 AM) l ...

calendar.''

References

External links

Rally of Turkey official site

Rally of Turkey - Anatolian
at eWRC-results {{World rallies Recurring sporting events established in 1972

Antalya Province