Castrol Ford Team Türkiye, the leading team in the world of automobile sports, completed the Sweden Rally, the first stop of the 2026 World Rally Championship season, with a strong performance despite the difficult conditions. Ali Türkkan – Oytun Albayrak duo, despite having an unfortunate loss of time in the race they were leading, came back to finish in the top 5 in the Junior WRC class and gained critical points.
Castrol Ford Team Turkey completed the 2026 World Rally Championship (WRC) marathon in 5th and 6th place at the Sweden Rally held between 12-15 February.
Ali Türkkan completed the rally in 5th place, while Kerem Kazaz took 6th place.
Ford Team Türkiye made an assertive entrance to the 2026 World Rally Championship (WRC) marathon with the Sweden Rally held between 12-15 February. In this first leg of the season, which was run on snow and icy ground, Ali Türkkan and Oytun Albayrak duo attracted attention with the speed they displayed from the beginning of the race.
The Turkish team, which took the leadership seat by winning the first stage of the rally by a large margin, maintained its superiority by recording the fastest time in the following stage. While leading in the fifth stage, the team lost time by going off the road and could not complete the second day of the race, and showed a great example of endurance by not giving up.
Castrol Ford Team Türkiye continued the race the next day with a 40-minute penalty period and achieved four stage wins in total with its strong performance. Despite the huge loss of time, the team finished in the top 5 in the Junior WRC general classification and proved their claim to the championship with the extra points they earned thanks to the stages they won.
Making evaluations after the competitive performance in the first race of the season, Castrol Ford Team Turkey Team Coach Murat Bostancı said: “We started very fast in Sweden, which is one of the most special and challenging legs of the World Rally Championship, and declared our leadership in the first stages. Even though the misfortune we experienced in the fifth stage made us lose time, we did not give up and managed to come back and get four stage wins. Despite the 40-minute penalty, we finished the race in the top 5 in the Junior WRC general classification, which was important for the season.” “We started with points. Although we were saddened to miss the victory in a race in which we led, we showed our speed and power to the whole world. Now our focus is on the Croatia Rally, where we have experience and showed a strong performance from last year. We are moving forward with determination towards our goal, the world championship.”
The 2026 Junior WRC season, consisting of five races, will continue with the Croatia Rally and the Portugal Rally, following the Sweden Rally, which will be run on snowy and icy surfaces.
Automobile Magazine – English
