Kizilirmak races into the BTCCTurkey’s Arkas Racing plan 2007 campaign

Arkas Racing, the sporting division of Turkey’s Arkas Automotive Group, has taken delivery of three Vauxhall Astra Sports Hatch touring cars from Triple Eight Race Engineering as the team look to complete its first full season in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).  The organisation has also appointed the highly experienced Brian Ashwood as technical director and Leamington Spa-based touring car specialists Tech-speed Motorsport as its operational team while also continuing to benefit from Triple Eight’s ongoing engineering support under the terms of the arrangement.

Arkas Racing will be completing a full season in this year’s championship, following two initial forays at Croft and Snetterton in 2006 and has confirmed its lead driver will be former Turkish Touring Car champion Erkut Kizilirmak.  Trials are due to take place shortly to decide the occupant of the team’s second seat.

Arkas Automotive’s marketing director, Yalcin Arsan, is optimistic about the team’s prospects in the UK and noted: “We have built up an excellent relationship with Triple Eight over the last two years, and are putting a solid support structure in place with established names Brian Ashwood and Tech-speed alongside us.  2007 will be a year of evolution for us but we are looking to progress quickly, starting with the appointment of a talented UK driver in the second seat to complement Erkut.”

Kizilirmak himself is also excited to be in the UK: “The BTCC is the most entertaining touring car series in the world and the opportunity to work with Triple Eight is a real privilege,” he said.  “I stopped competing in Turkey halfway through last year in order to start racing in the BTCC and I’ve never been in a more exciting environment in my whole racing career. Now I just can’t wait for next season to start.”