Good News of a Karting Track for Istanbul Park at the TOSFED General Assembly

The 1.2-kilometer karting track to be built at Istanbul Park aims to give Turkish motorsport an infrastructure capable of producing champions on an international scale.
The 1.2-kilometer karting track to be built at Istanbul Park aims to give Turkish motorsport an infrastructure capable of producing champions on an international scale.

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TOSFED's 9th Ordinary General Assembly, held in Ankara, brought an important plan for Turkish motorsport to the agenda beyond routine discharge and budget decisions: a 1.2-kilometer karting circuit built to international standards will be constructed at Istanbul Park. Federation President Eren Üçlertoprağı described the transfer of the circuit's operation to the federation as a turning point, and in the statement made, it was announced that a karting facility would be added inside the circuit during the renovation works. The aim is to establish an infrastructure capable of producing champions on an international scale. On this page, you will find the general assembly's decisions, the process of the circuit's transfer to the federation, and the Formula 1 connection of the karting project, all together.

Highlights

  • The TOSFED 9th Ordinary General Assembly was held in Ankara on October 13, 2026; the activity and audit reports were discharged.
  • 2027–2028 estimated budgets were discussed and decided at the general assembly.
  • Istanbul Park will gain an international karting circuit, 1.2 km long, to be added at the exit of the circuit's Turn 7.
  • The project has reached the final approval stage; with the approved design, the circuit will have the capacity to host the Karting World Championship.
  • The Formula 1 Türkiye Grand Prix will take place at Istanbul Park on October 1–3, 2027. will take place at İstanbul Park.

What Was Decided at the General Assembly?

The 9th Ordinary General Assembly, which convened in Ankara on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, proceeded in the classic format where the federation presents its two-year accounts. The activity report covering the period from September 13, 2024 to September 23, 2026, and the Audit Board Report covering the first seven months of 2026, were presented to the delegates' vote and discharged. The chairmanship of the assembly board was carried out by TOSFED Bursa Provincial Representative Mitat Ülküden, with the deputy chairmanship by Board Member Süha Gürsoy.

The second part of the agenda was financial planning. The estimated budgets for 2027 and 2028 were discussed and decided at the general assembly. Although the budget section at such meetings often passes as a routine formality, for a federation that has taken over the operation of a major facility like Istanbul Park, the binding approval of the two-year budget also means that the allocation of resources in the coming period must pass an approval. Someone who has followed these meetings for many years might say: the discharge item finishes in an hour, but the real debate revolves around the shares to be allocated to infrastructure.

How Will the Karting Circuit Be Added to Istanbul Park?

According to the plan presented to the general assembly, a comprehensive renovation and renewal work will be carried out at Istanbul Park, and as part of these works, an international karting circuit will be built inside the circuit. The works are being conducted under the umbrella of the Ministry of Youth and Sports; it was stated at the general assembly meeting that the details would be shared with a presentation.

According to the information conveyed, the karting circuit will be placed at the exit of the main circuit's Turn 7 and will be 1.2 kilometers in length. Scale matters: This length gives the facility the capacity to host organizations at World Karting Championship level. Simulations of the project, approved by the Ministry, have been submitted to the International Automobile Federation, and final approval for construction is awaited. The completion date is not yet clear; it is understood that the schedule will take shape once the approval is granted.

Karting's place in the motorsport pyramid is undisputed. Nearly all Formula 1 names start on a karting track; adding a track where a child aged 8-10 learns their first corner braking alongside a facility that today puts helmets on drivers on the main circuit is a direct answer to a nationwide gap in grassroots training. This is precisely the goal emphasized by the federation president: to raise future Formula 1 drivers with the karting track.

How Did Istanbul Park Pass to TOSFED?

Knowing the background is necessary to understand the scale of the karting project. Istanbul Park is the country's only international racing circuit and remained under the operation of different companies for many years. The tender for the track was held on April 2, 2024, and the operating rights were for a time even reflected in the track's name. Then the process changed: after the tender's cancellation, an umbrella protocol was made between the two ministries to which the track is affiliated, and the facility's operating responsibility was transferred to TOSFED under the umbrella of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The transfer was formalized at a press meeting held at the track on Monday, June 16; president Eren Üçlertoprağı announced that day that the facility was being taken over by the federation.

It would not be correct to say this transition went entirely smoothly. Criticisms emerged that the transfer took place without any new tender, that no new tender was made after the one canceled by the Council of State; an allegation of nepotism regarding the operation was also publicly debated. In addition, it was emphasized that the facility's ownership and its operation are separate matters, with the information that the track's ownership lies with public institutions. As a personal note as an editor: the transfer of a publicly owned facility's operation to a federation is an ordinary situation in that it brings transparency demands with it. Carrying out the karting track project with the same rigor and with publicly available information is the surest way to avoid such debates.

Formula 1 Return and the 2027 Türkiye Grand Prix

2027 Türkiye Grand Prix'sini bir dış promotöre değil, TOSFED kendisi baştan sona düzenleyerek motosporlarda eşine az rastlanır bir adım atıyor.

The karting track plan is part of a bigger picture, beyond an effort to give a new function to an idle facility. According to the federation president's assessment at the general assembly, the track's operation passing to the federation was a significant milestone in the Formula 1 World Championship's return to Türkiye. Since the beginning of 2025, management had two fundamental goals: to get the track up and running and to bring F1 back. The latter is now on the calendar: the Formula 1 Türkiye Grand Prix, October 1-3, 2027 will take place in Istanbul.

One noteworthy detail in this organization is that the promoter of the Turkish GP is TOSFED itself; the race will be organized by the federation from start to finish. Another component of the weekend is the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup 2027 final; the series in which national athlete Ayhancan Güven has competed for three seasons will be held at TOSFED Istanbul Park on the same dates. As for the calendar, it was stated that the contract for 23 races continues and that Türkiye is a candidate for the 24th race.

Other General Assembly Data

Although overshadowed by the Istanbul Park and F1 agenda, a few figures brought to the general assembly show just how active the track has become. One round of the Türkiye Circuit Championship welcomed approximately 11,000 spectators on the Sunday it was held; the fifth round of the championship also concluded with the same intensity. Galip Atar from Ülkü Motorsport won the first race in the Maxi group. You can easily estimate the potential per weekend of a track that can attract spectators at this level when combined with a karting infrastructure.

President Üçlertoprağı thanked President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Minister of Youth and Sports Dr. Osman Aşkın Bak for the support provided during this process. The federation's autumn calendar is also busy: the 2026 Türkiye Drift Championship final will be held at TOSFED Istanbul Park on October 25, and the final round of the MOTUL 2026 Türkiye Karting Championship will be held at TOSFED Körfez Race Track on October 24-25; participation is free of charge for female athletes in the karting rounds. On the rally front, the Uğur Soylu – Soner Tamer team won the sixth round of the Petrol Ofisi Maxima 2026 Türkiye Rally Championship, the Kocaeli Metropolitan Rally; Can Alakoç – Bilge Ayan finished second, and Eytan Halfon – Gürkal Menderes finished third.

The international careers of names emerging from the grassroots are also worth mentioning: national athlete Alp Aksoy will race in FIA FRECA in the 2027 season as a Ferrari Driver Academy driver. Aksoy finished the 2026 E4 Championship fourth overall and second in the rookie class. Such career paths, which could be considered the most concrete example today of what the karting track project aims for, also explain why the project should be seen not as an investment but as a necessity.

When Will the Karting Track Be Ready and What Does It Mean?

The project's official approval process is in its final stage on the FIA side, but the construction schedule and completion date have not yet been announced. For this reason, rather than giving a date now, we need to stick to the available information: the 1.2-kilometer circuit will be built at the exit of turn 7 and was designed to standards capable of hosting an event at the level of the Karting World Championship.

Viewed from the perspective of long years, the situation is as follows in summary: In the past, the infrastructure side of our major circuits was a burden carried by private enterprises alone; now the operation of the facility is under a federation, and infrastructure investment is directly on the federation's agenda. F1's return in 2027 offers a roadmap for young drivers who will be trained at the same facility - a line extending from the karting track you enter through the door, to the Supercup and Formula 1 to be run on the same circuit. If this line is established healthily, the figures discussed at the general assemblies ten years from now will be very different from today's.

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