HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship entrant Arkas Racing certainly
made an  impact during its maiden season of competition in 2007, an action-packed
year which saw Turkish racer Erkut Kizilirmak finish an excellent joint-eighth
in the Independents Trophy standings.
Making its official BTCC debut during the pre-season Media Day at
Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northamptonshire back in March, Arkas arrived in
Britain’s most popular and prestigious race series with former Turkish Touring
Car Champion Kizilirmak facing a very steep learning curve.
Although running under the banner of Arkas Racing due to the backing and
financial input of the Arkas Automotive Group, Turkey’s first multi-brand car
dealership network, car preparation was actually handled by Leamington
Spa’s Tech-Speed Motorsport with additional guidance from
Banbury based VX Racing.
 At the wheel of his superbly presented BTC-specification Vauxhall Astra
Sports Hatch, Erkut got his campaign off to a solid start on his first ever
competitive Brands Hatch Indy Circuit outing with a top 12 overall finish during
the second of the weekend’s three races.
Edging closer to the coveted top 10 during round six at Rockingham with an
11th place result, his next opportunity for a full BTCC points scoring result
came at Croft in early June. But while running a superb ninth during the second
race of the weekend, contact to the rear of Erkut’s car from another competitor
on lap 13 saw him forced to retire.
Achieving a further 11th place finish in round 15 at Oulton Park, Erkut
then headed to Donington Park where he achieved a career best BTCC qualifying
performance of 12th position. Although the rain-affected races didn’t produce
the top 10 result the Arkas ace wanted, his lap times were highly
impressive.
Maiden BTCC top 10 for Kizilirmak
Snetterton
hosted the next three rounds of the championship in late July and Erkut raced to
a pair of 11th place results, tantalisingly close again to the top 10. However,
the next event, a return to Brands Hatch, saw him finally secure the 10th place
finish he had been striving for during the first of the weekend’s races, round
22.
Better was to follow in round 23, a race which Arkas elected to begin on
treaded  tyres due to a damp track. The choice paid off early on and saw Erkut
rise from 10th at the start to a superb fourth position at mid-distance. The
circuit then began to dry and although compromising Erkut’s performance, he
still managed to finish in the top 10.
While missing the penultimate meeting of the season at Knockhill in
Scotland due to a family wedding back home in Istanbul, Erkut and Arkas returned
to action during the championship finale at Thruxton in Hampshire.
Battling the effects of flu throughout the weekend, the 38-year-old still
managed to end his maiden season in the BTCC joint-eighth in the Independents
Trophy standings while Arkas concluded the year seventh in the Independents Team
Trophy standings.
It’s also important to remember, with the exception of Croft and
Snetterton, which Erkut raced at in the 2006 BTCC at the wheel of a VX Racing
entered Astra, this season marked his first ever experience of every other
circuit on the calendar.
“Our first year in the BTCC has been very enjoyable and to finish in the
top 10 on two occasions was fantastic”, said Erkut reflecting on the season,
“The championship is so competitive but I think we can be proud of our
achievements this year against some very experienced teams and drivers.
“Obviously the second Brands Hatch weekend was our most successful but
another of my favourite events was at Donington as we were genuinely fast in
qualifying and could have been even quicker. With the experience I have gained
this year I’m confident we will be much stronger in 2008. I can’t wait for the
new season to start.”
Arkas will return to the BTCC in 2008 with Erkut taking part in his second
full year of competition in the UK at the wheel of his trusty Astra. It is also
planned for the squad to run a second car and the team is currently in
discussion with a number of drivers.
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