Defending champion starts new season in Turkey
Defending Turkish Rally champion Kerem Kazaz will be reunited with his i20 N Rally2 to begin the new national season at the Ege Rallisi.
The 19-year-old will similarly rejoin French co-driver Corentin Silvestre, with whom he took the crucial results to clinch the title last year.
The event, based in the holiday resort and former WRC Rally Turkey venue of Marmaris, offers the competing crews a rally dominated by twisty, technical tarmac stages, run over dirty, slippery roads typical of those found in the Turkish championship.
Happily, however, with sunny weather forecast for the weekend, the already difficult conditions should at least not be complicated by wet weather.
The 2024 event was Kazaz’s first taste of Turkish tarmac in the Rally2 class. He finished the event sixth, winning the Junior class of the event. Now, after a strong run of results to finish his championship-winning campaign, he will try to continue his form into the new year.
French Tarmac Rally Championship kicks off with Channel coast event
Rallye Le Touquet – Pas-de-Calais provides the now traditional opening round for the French Tarmac Rally Championship, with two i20 N Rally2 crews expected to be among the front runners on the rally – and the season beyond.
Eric Camilli and Thibault de le Haye made a fast start to their maiden season with a 2C Competition-run Hyundai this time last year when they won SS4 on the event. However, it was CHL Sport Auto driver Hugo Margaillan who took the best finish of the Hyundai Motorsport customers in sixth place. Both drivers, Camilli again guided by de le Haye, and Margaillan in his first event with co-driver Mathieu Coppa, will be aiming for more to start this season.
The stages of the event, frequently dampened by rain, can be treacherous – as Camilli discovered in 2024 – while mud pulled on to the road from the many cuts adds an ever-changing extra obstacle for crews.
After delay, Irish Tarmac Rally Championship season begins at West Cork Rally
The Irish Tarmac Rally Championship finally gets underway this weekend at the West Cork Rally, after the planned season opener in February was postponed due to extreme weather conditions.
The extra few weeks have allowed more preparation time for the crews, including i20 N Rally2 driver Matt Edwards, who is in his first year driving the car with the C&M Motorsport team. Edwards narrowly missed out on victory in his first start with the car in the Irish National Rally Championship. He ended the 2024 ITRC season, Ireland’s highest profile rallying series, third in the standings with one victory to his name, but with the support of Hyundai Motorsport’s UK and Ireland Agent behind him he will start the year with clear championship ambitions. He takes on the event with co-driver David Moynihan.
Cathan McCourt and Barry McNulty share a second i20 N Rally2 on the stages. They too put in strong performance on the Irish National event, finishing seventh overall in their first start as Hyundai Motorsport customers.
