Turkish driver Ali Türkkan is targeting two Rally1 drives in 2025 after testing an M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 at a sponsor event.
Held at M-Sport’s private Greystoke Forest test site, the 25-year-old Junior WRC regular drove a non-hybrid version of the Puma for 40 kilometers (25 miles) on Wednesday, also benefiting from a passenger run alongside current M-Sport driver Grégoire Munster.
Türkkan’s test was made possible thanks to his partnerships with Castrol, Red Bull and Ford.
“I’m lucky, because that’s how I can get behind the seat of Puma,” he told DirtFish.
“I think we did four sessions, which is around 40 kilometers. I did the first runs quite slow compared to others to get used to the car.
Türkkan was able to drive 40 kilometers in M-Sport's Puma Rally1
“My co-driver was Murat Bostanci who is a driver, but the Greystoke forest stage was very easy to remember, not so many tricky corners. There are straights between every corner so you know what’s coming. You don’t need pacenotes after two runs.
“It was a proper test.”
Türkkan – who regularly drives a Ford Fiesta Rally3 and won his national title outright in one in 2023 – expected the Rally1 car to feel totally crazy, having watched them stage-side for the first time after he retired from Croatia Rally earlier this year.
But he found it “not so difficult” to drive.
“You’re not feeling that fast in the car because you’re sitting very close to the windscreen and you can’t feel the speed,” he said. “But from the outside, it’s a crazy thing, but inside it’s quite similar compared to Rally2 in my opinion.
“When I drive more, let’s say, complicated and more professional race cars like Rally1 and Rally2, I always get a nice feeling driving-wise, because when you drive Rally5 or Rally4, they’re not completely a race car so you need to do something different than driving, because the limit is lower than these cars. So when you go over the limit, actually you feel fast, but time is not going faster.
The Turk didn't find the Rally1 car too difficult to drive
“In a Rally1 and Rally2, you can push, push, push, and every time you push more, there is always a response coming positive from the car. If you are slow, it’s not helping you, it’s not easy to turn the car or not easy to brake, but if you are braking on the limit and doing right things at the same time, the car starts to work with you and you are working together which is easier to drive.
“Even in Rally1 car, of course it’s fast, but it’s very sharp, very agile and if you can work together with the car, I think it’s not so difficult to drive.
“It was a crazy feeling,” he added, “not just because I’m driving one of the fastest rally cars. It’s a very historical and important thing to have been testing at the same stage like Carlos Sainz did, Colin McRae did with their legendary Focus WRC cars. It’s exactly the same stage and I was there driving.
“Even if I was not driving a Puma Rally1, driving a Rally2 or Rally3 [for example], it’s exactly the same stage where I was watching as a child in bad quality videos, foggy, slippery muddy stages with Colin McRae flicking the car around and touching the outside of the corners with this Focus. It’s amazing to be there in this atmosphere.
“Plus, I’m driving a Rally1 car. I think it’s one of the fastest rally cars ever built in history. I don’t know if you agree, but maybe the 2017 Fiesta and the other cars with six-speed paddle-shift gearbox were as fast as this one, but other than that these are the fastest cars ever produced, so I was driving one of them.
“It’s a lifetime experience you can get.”
Türkkan is aiming to get his name on the side of a Rally1 car more often
Türkkan’s primary target next season is to become Junior WRC champion, but also has a plan to drive a Puma Rally1 on two events – one being Sardinia.
“Of course, every rally driver wants to be competing at the highest level, which is a Rally1 right now, but I think it may be possible next year, like for Sardinia, because I did Sardinia two times, but next year it’s not on the JWRC calendar.
“So I know the roads, I know the islands, and I have experience – not as much as Ott Tänak or Thierry Neuville of course, but I did it two times so it’s a good start to start to drive a Rally1 car in the stages that you know.
“In Turkey we love rallying, rallying is the most popular motorsport in Turkey so we need to have a competitive driver at the highest level. I think I’m not ready yet. I still have a way to go, but we need to start from somewhere.
“And maybe next year, if I can have a chance and have great sponsors from Turkey as Castrol, Ford, Red Bull and maybe some others, as well as my national federation, I want to try the Ford Puma in WRC, maybe for two rounds.”
Türkkan wouldn’t specify what other round he was looking at, but said “gravel could be a better choice” because he feels it’s easier to get on the pace on gravel with the margins finer on Tarmac.
