Ford Castrol Team Turkey's succesful driver: Murat Bostancı
Murat Bostancı, the son of a champion of Turkey and the Balkans and a Women's Co-Drivers champion of Turkey. Born virtually on the racetrack in 1988, he has rally driver's blood in his veins.
Bostancı who was brought up looking at the pictures, videos, and shots from inside the car of his father Serdar Bostancı, discovered racing in the virtual world at a very young age through his computer games and steering wheel. In his memories, he talks about vivid memories of watching his father race from the laps of mechanics.
Bostancı's racing adventure started with his participation in the Turkish Rallycross Championship in 2005, when he was only 16 years old. Bostancı, who impresses people with his speed and appealing style, competed in rallycross races in 2006. He obtained his driver's license in 2007 and took first place in his class at his very first rally, the Istanbul Rally Championship.
After graduating from high school, he was admitted the same year to Oxford Brookes University, which offers education in motorsport engineering. He participated in competitions in Turkey while studying motorsport engineering in the U.K. After taking third place in the Turkey Rally Championship in 2008, he began racing for Castrol Ford Team Turkey in 2009. That same year, he achieved his greatest success to date by winning the Turkish Junior Championship.
The year 2010 was a milestone in Bostancı's career. He kept up his successful track record by winning first place in Class 3 of the Turkey Rally Championship. The Turkish Automobile Federation nominated him as the sole rally driver to represent Turkey at the Pirelli Star Driver championship, where the world's best young drivers compete. He competed at the 2010 World Rally Championships (WRC) driving a Ford Fiesta ST, setting the record for the best performance this car had ever accomplished.
On 2011, he graduated from Oxford Brookes University as Turkey's first motorsport engineer and went on to compete in both the Eastern European Rally and the Turkey Rally Championship in 2012.
The year 2013 was the beginning of a new adventure for Bostancı. He began the season as the only Turkish driver in the FIA Junior WRC and won the stages in Finland and Spain, confirming his place as a champion in his class. However, rule changes at the end of the 2013 season meant he could no longer complete his Junior WRC adventure in 2014.
Murat Bostancı started the 2014 season aiming to win for Castrol Ford Team Turkey, capturing the Turkey Rally Championship.
His father, Serdar Bostancı, had won the Turkey Rally Championship in 1996 at the age of 38. Murat Bostancı not only followed in his father's footsteps, but at 26 years old, became one of the youngest drivers to win the title. This success brought new opportunities for the country by Castrol Ford Team Turkey. Pirelli was also a sponsor of this venture. Serdar and Murat Bostancı were the first father and son Rally Champions of Turkey, having won the titles in 1996 and 2014, respectively.
In 2015 he started to race in the European Rally Cup as well as the Turkey Rally Championship. He finished as champion of both competitions, with two races still to be run before the season ended. Winning the European Rally Cup title can be compared to a soccer team winning the "UEFA Europa League" title, which is a first in the history of Turkish motorsports.
The 2016 season of the European Rally Cup began with a three-year plan. The first two years would be to gain experience. The third-year goal was to push the limits. When Murat Bostancı took third place among drivers in the ERC-3 class of the European Rally Championship, the points he earned helped Castrol Ford Team Turkey become the ERC-3 team Champions of 2016. He helped Castrol Ford Team Turkey with the Turkey Rally Championship for seven years in a row, finishing third place among all drivers.
He will race in 2017 with a Ford Fiesta R5, the winning car in the European Rally Championship for the last two years. This time he will be seeking success in the general classification of the European Rally Championship.
