Körfez Hosts the Final of the Türkiye Karting Championship

Motorsport News from Türkiye
Author: Mustafa Odabaşı
Creation: 25 October 2026

In the final, where 42 drivers and 6 teams battled it out on the track over two days in the Gulf region, the champions of the MOTUL 2026 Türkiye Karting Championship were decided.

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The final act of the MOTUL 2026 Türkiye Karting Championship wrapped up at the TOSFED Körfez Race Track over the weekend of October 24-25, and the season's champions were determined. In the Senior category, the winner of the year was Batı Ege Yıldırım; on the teams side, the junior first place went to the Borusan team's account. So what exactly happened at Körfez over the two days, and who came out on top in which category?

Highlights

The final round was run on October 24-25, 2026 at the TOSFED Körfez Race Track.
6 teams and 42 athletes took part in the final.
In the Senior category, Batı Ege Yıldırım finished first.
The organization was undertaken by the Women's Sports Club in Automobile Sports; female athletes raced without paying an entry fee.
The Borusan team won the Junior teams championship.

When and How Was the Türkiye Karting Championship Körfez Final Run?

The final round of the championship was completed at Körfez with an intense two-day program. The program started on Saturday morning with official practice sessions and included qualifying sessions and two heat series; on Sunday, the semi-finals, finals, and award ceremony took place in order. The final races were run on Sunday afternoon, and the trophy ceremony was held toward the evening of the same day.

42 athletes from 6 teams took part in this round, which decided the fate of the season. Athletes in the senior, junior, mini, and micro categories, divided by age groups in karting, competed through a progressive elimination system to reach the final rankings. Those who know this business know it well; in karting's lower tiers, a single qualifying session can summarize an entire season's effort in one sentence. That is precisely why the Körfez finals are always watched with a special excitement.

The organization was undertaken by the Women's Sports Club in Automobile Sports. It is no coincidence that the club closed out the season's end at Körfez once again; last year, too, the final round of the season was completed with the same organization and the same track. There were also supporters who contributed to the races: Aydoğanlar Otomotiv, Mua, and Gigi's.

Who Lifted the Trophy in the Senior Category?

Kartingden yukarıya taşınan kariyerlerin sırrı, şampiyonlukta değil, Avrupa ve Türkiye'de aynı sezonu yakalayan istikrarda saklı.

At the top of the Senior category's final standings, the season's most experienced tier, was Batı Ege Yıldırım. Yıldırım is part of a rising trajectory this season that was not limited to Körfez alone; he is a name who had also won first place at the WSK Euro Series final previously held in Italy. The young driver's form this year, in both Europe and Türkiye, is a typical example of the development stories that will carry upward from karting.

On the other two steps of the Senior podium, Uraz Fatinoğlu took second and Ömer Ulaş Akbağ third place. On the teams front, the junior first place went to the Borusan team. Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport's development work is a fact we have all witnessed throughout the season; this year, the team was clearly present on the field in every karting category.

Why Is There a Different Organization Model for Female Athletes?

The aspect of the Körfez final that perhaps deserves the most discussion is not the results table but the organization itself. In this round organized by the Women's Sports Club in Motorsports, female athletes were able to start without paying an entry fee. Additionally, the races could be watched free of charge on both days; the crowds in the grandstands presumably matched that, and as always in Europe, the density of spectators along the track is decisive for the development of young drivers here in Türkiye too.

Throughout the season, one family stood out in the women's categories: the Yeşiltays. This is a family that won multiple first places in the women's categories in the mid-season rounds; it is enough to recall their results in the Nevşehir and Uşak rounds. Among the category winners at the Körfez final, the names of young drivers also stand out; Uygar Arslan Birgili and Bulut Tırınk, who competed in the junior and mini levels throughout the season, and Poyraz Şafak Kaptan in the micro category, are mentioned among the standout names of the season. The exact final podium standings will become clear once the federation's official results are completed.

How the Season Went: Traces of a Seven-Round Journey

The 2026 calendar was not an empty one. Throughout the championship, the circuits turned in sequence: the season began in May with the Körfez round hosted by NİMOSK, followed by stops in Tuzla, Kapadokya and Uşak. It is worth noting that the Yeşiltay family collected three first places in the same weekend in Uşak; such a picture is a sign of both the family's work and the grassroots infrastructure in the provinces.

On the teams front, two names were decisive throughout the season: Dynamic Racing Team and BOM Karting. Dynamic had won a team victory in one of the mid-season rounds and had been collecting points everywhere with a roster ranging from senior to micro. The picture looked similar on the BOM side; in one round, they finished at the top of the teams' standings in three of the four categories. After the Körfez final, the junior teams' victory going to Borusan appears to have closed out the teams' table for this race as well.

In the past, karting meant a single regional track and a handful of teams in our minds; today, we are talking about a touring program stretching from Kocaeli to Kapadokya, from Tuzla to Uşak. This expansion is the fundamental reason why 42 athletes were able to race in a single final round. Viewed through a thirty-year window, it would be unfair not to emphasize the value of this picture.

Which of Türkiye's Races Did the Körfez Final Coincide With on the Same Weekend?

The weekend of October 24-25 was not written only for karting in Turkish motorsport. On the same day, the Türkiye Drift Championship final was held at İstanbul Park; in the series contested by 23 athletes, first place went to Enver Haskasap from Northern Cyprus, second to Çağlar Küçükdumlu, and third to Akay Akbil. In Denizli, Baja Denizli, the final round of the Baja Championship, was completed on October 23-25 with 16 vehicles and 32 athletes. Classic car enthusiasts watched the Republic Rally; held in İstanbul on October 23-24 with 47 classic cars, this rally struck the season's nostalgic note.

Four separate disciplines holding finals or closing rounds on the same weekend marks a noticeable intensification compared to the autumn calendars of past years. This shows that the motorsport program in Türkiye, stretching from grassroots to the top, now spans all twelve months of the year. Another success on the grassroots front came recently: Süleyman Cem Karakömür, the 13-year-old driver of Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport, closed the mini max category of the Rotax Max Challenge Central Europe Series in second place with 447 points. European results like these are the most concrete reference showing where the championships run in Türkiye stand on the international mirror.

Season Closed: What Does the Körfez Final Mean for Turkish Karting?

If the season that closed in Körfez is to be summed up in a single sentence, it shows that Turkish karting now forms a genuine pool both in terms of grassroots depth and organizational diversity. 42 athletes competing in the final, free participation being offered to female athletes, and real competition among teams are signs that this effort has settled onto a sustainable foundation. The emergence of names like Batı Ege Yıldırım, who also collects victories in Europe, proves that the pool is growing not only numerically but also in quality.

What to watch now is the 2027 calendar and the federation's official results pages. When the exact points tables and the full list of category winners become clear with the official results, the full balance sheet of this season will settle even further. But Körfez's message is already clear: karting is becoming a sport that Türkiye needs to produce, not just watch.