TransAnatolia Ended in Kars

Turkey's first and only, and one of the world's biggest challenging races, the 2-kilometer TransAnatolia Rally Raid ended with an award ceremony in Kars.

The TransAnatolia Rally Raid race, which was hosted and supported by Serhat Development Agency (SERKA), came to an end. Deputy Governor of Kars Mehmet Zahid Doğu, Secretary General of SERKA İbrahim Taşdemir, Provincial Director of Youth and Sports Nedim Aslan and representatives of institutions and organizations attended the award ceremony held from the skirts of Kars Castle. Speaking at the ceremony, SERKA Secretary General İbrahim Taşdemir thanked the competitors who participated in the rally and said that it is important for Kars to host such organizations. Stating that Kars has become one of Turkey's most attractive cities with its historical, cultural and touristic values, Taşdemir expressed that they are happy to host international organizations such as TransAnatolia. Deputy Governor Mehmet Zahid Doğu also said that sports is an important argument for promotion. Doğu stated that Kars, which is almost an open-air museum, has hosted many civilizations and that the event will make a great contribution to the promotion of the city. After the speeches they went on with the awards ceremony. The last stage of the competition had started this morning in Sarıkamış. Passing through the Allahuekber Mountains, the 128 kilometer final track is in Kars to TransAnatolia, from Turkey, Italy, Netherlands and England; 39 vehicles, including 19 motorcycles, 4 cars, 5 SSVs, 3 Quads and 70 Trucks, and 96 racers participated.

While the race in the motorcycle category was quite exciting, every day of the race witnessed new rankings. Turkish motorcycle racers, on the other hand, competed in great competition, especially with Italian pilots. In the automobile category, there was a great competition until the last moment and the winners were determined only in the last stage. In the general part of the motorcycle; Italian pilot Alberto Bertoldi competing in the KTM 450 Rally won the first place, Italian pilot Cesare Zacchetti competing in the KTM 450 Rally took the second place and Italian pilot Michelle Cotti competing in the KTM 500 EXC-F became the third. In the Quad section, Kadir Dağlı competing with CAN-AM BRP took the first place, Mustafa Dağlı competing with CAN-AM BRP and Rasim Akyalı competing with CAN-AM Renegade took the third place. In the automobile general classification, Italian Federico Bhutto and Filippo Ippolito competing with the CAN-AM Maverick X3 won the first place, Murat Kamil Altun and Tuvana Sayar from Becce Motorsports competing with the Suzuki Grand Vitara took the second place, and Ahmet Tınkır and Ali Günpay with the Mitsubishi L200 took the third place. In the automobile class, Murat Kamil Altun and Tuvana Sayar from Becce Motorsports competed in the Suzuki Grand Vitara, and Ahmet Tinkır and Ali Günpay in the Mitsubishi L200 took the second place, and Yalçın Batuhan Korkut and Fırat Şahin from the Bantboru Offroad Team competed in the Mitsubishi L200. Italian Federico Bhutto and Filippo Ippolito competing with CAN-AM Maverick X3 took the first place in the SSV class, Ertan Nacaroğlu and Eray Yanpar competing with the CAN-AM Maverick X3 took the second place, and Barbaros Fire and Ali Osman Kutanoğlu competing with the CAN-AM Maverick X3 took the third place. In the truck class, Ramazan Yılmaz and Onur Sırımoğlu, competing with Mercedes Unimog, came first, Murat Karahan and Mehmet Fürkan Saylam, competing with Mercedes Unimog, came second, and Marino Mutti and Mert Özgün, competing with Mercedes Unimog, came third.

Speaking at the ceremony, TransAnatolia Sportive Coordinator Orhan Çelen thanked all the competitors who participated in the race and said, “The 11 km journey we set off from Eskişehir on Saturday, September 2, ended in Kars today. We are happy to be in this ancient city in our 300th year. We would like to thank our esteemed governor and SERKA Secretary General for their hospitality. It is a completely different motivation for us to be able to show our country's historical, natural and cultural beauties to our domestic and foreign competitors. This year, we ran our race across the border of 11 provinces, in very difficult weather and road conditions. In this sense, I can say that we have tired our racers a lot. I sincerely congratulate all our racers who can see the finish.” Çelen thanked Serhat Development Agency for supporting and hosting the last phase of TransAnatolia.