OCTOBER 2, 2002

Turkey gets a World Rally fixture

Turkey has been chosen to host one of the 14 rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship in 2003. The Anatolian Rally will be held near the coastal city of Antalya. The event will replace the celebrated Safari Rally in Kenya which has been dropped from the World Championship because the organizers were unable to satisfy the FIA's requirements for a date in the WRC.

The Turks have been trying hard for a major motorsport event in recent months but the recent announcement that Bahrain has landed a Grand Prix deal means that there is very little chance that Turkey will be able to get a slot in the F1 calendar in the near future.

The rally will be a useful source of consolation...