Diary - Before and during the Rally of Turkey-

This story starts with logistics, much the same as our previous topics. This time, the 'RORO ship' brought our cars, such as two SX4 WRCs, service trucks and recce cars from Elefsina near Athens to Antalya in Turkey. That RORO ship, which is short for 'roll on/roll-off ship', is a ferry designed to carry wheeled cargo such as automobiles, trucks, trailers and so on. This is in contrast to lo-lo (lift on-lift off) vessels which use a crane to load and unload cargo. The ship chartered by the WRC organizers is exclusively for cars of all the manufacturers and ISC contracted teams. So, team personnel, including drivers of the trucks and service cars, left Athens for Antalya apart from their cars, travelling by air. For your information, it was the same RORO ship which was used twice before. The ship carried cars from Savona to Jordan and from Jordan to Sardinia.


As soon as the cars arrived at Antalya, they were driven to the service park in Kemer, about 30km south of Antalya. When the rally cars arrived at Kemer, the mechanics began the overhaul and repairs. Below you can see the neatly arranged sets of replacement parts on the table in the service truck!

On the other hand, Suzuki SX4 WRC pilots Toni and P-G were busy working for the team PR.
One evening, a barbecue party was held at luxurious golf and thalasso resort with a private beachfront in Belek, about 30km east of Antalya, by Australian Suzuki dealers who visited the Rally of Turkey. P-G Andersson enjoyed being interviewed by the enthusiastic Australian supporters. Everybody had a great time.


One afternoon, a cocktail party was held at Durmazlar Otomotiv, the Suzuki dealership in Antalya. Representatives from Suzuki Turkey also joined the event. During a cocktail, there were queues of people in order to get an autograph from Toni and P-G. For the party, the President of the dealership Celil Durmaz prepared a big cake and fed the drivers. Drivers enjoyed the cake very much!

In the service park, you could see many curious things. Can you imagine a skating rink set at a corner of the service park of the rally of Turkey despite high temperature exceeding 30 degrees Celsius and high humidity? The skating rink undoubtedly existed. The dome seemed to be designed to let the cold air flow down so as not to cause melting of the ice.
In our service tent, there were plastic shields for front windows of our rally cars. The shield is necessary protection for the windscreen during this rally, because pebbles in the dust often hit the car.


Finally, the rally got under way. In the service park we welcomed a group of about 20 Belgian guests, who were invited by their Suzuki dealer. They came to cheer us dressed in matching yellow t-shirts with red 'S' logo on the chest. Entire team was greatly encouraged by them!
Now, let me introduce two Turkish beauties. They supported the team during the weekend by promoting the Suzuki brand. At the superspecial stage in Antalya on Thursday the girls also promoted the mobile service powered by Suzuki 'mobile-rally.com

       
   


In contrast of hot and dry Athens, the air Kemer, on the south coast of Turkey facing the Mediterranean Sea, was hot and humid, although it was a bit drier and cooler in the mountainous area of the internal region in the west. There were beautiful beaches and harbors on the coast and luxurious resort hotels along the main street.


We could see tourists from Russia everywhere in such resorts or on the main street. Russian mechanics in other teams told us that this coastal region of Turkey is a very popular tourist attraction in Russia these years. The hotel where we stayed was one of the biggest resort hotels in Kemer and many Russian people stayed there too. Interestingly, the hotel was modeled on famous buildings in Holland.


On the other hand, there was almost no foreign tourist on the back street in the old town. Instead, there were small shops for everyday life of the inhabitants, mopeds and Ford's 'OTOSAN' trucks loaded with passengers.


Turkey is richly cultivated with a wide variety of fruits in each district. The cultivation of the strawberry, cherry, peach and melon is popular in Antalya. So we could see many fresh fruits displayed at the greengrocers. The windows of the Turkish-style confectionary stores also attracted our eyes. As you know, 'turkish delight', 'lokum' in Turkish is one of the most popular Turkish sweets among the world. It has a long history dating back to the 14th century. Since the 18th century, when sugar was imported to Turkey from Europe, confectioners improved the lokum and perfected the taste of the present-day product. This candy is famous as 'Turkish delight' in the western countries since an English tourist introduced lokum with that name to Europe.
Lokum is a confection made from basic ingredients of starch and sugar. It is often flavored with rosewater, lemon and mint. It has a soft, jelly-like consistency, and is often packaged in small cubes that are dusted with icing sugar. Some types contain small nut pieces, like pistachio, hazelnut or walnuts. Why don't you try one when you come to Turkey!
     


Like Sardinia and Greece, fish and seafood such as shrimps and calamari are popularly used in the cuisine of this region in Turkey. The cuisine uses olive oil, tomatoes and yoghurt a lot is similar to the Greek dishes. What is different in Turkey is the absence pork. Because Turkey is an Islamic country, people don't have pork. So if you would like to have a meat dish, you can have chicken or lamb at every restaurant. Alhough, people there drink beer and other alcoholic beverages such as wine and 'raki' freely.
'EFES', which is number one beer brand in turkey, pairs perfectly with both meat and seafood dishes!


 

 
Rd.13 France
Day3
MORE>>

Rd.13 France
Day2
MORE>>
 
 
  [Land of the Long Dust Cloud]
...MORE>
  [Rally in green hills dotted with dozens of wineries and vineyards]
...MORE>



#10 Mechanic's portrait: Stefan Erixon
...MORE>

#09 Mechanic's portrait: Esa Häkkinen
...MORE>