POLE TO PODIUM, AT TWELVE
Rüzgar Okman walked into İstanbul Park as the youngest driver on the Türkiye Drift Şampiyonası grid. He walked out as champion of Round 1.
The 12-year-old from Northern Cyprus topped qualifying with a 92, the only score above 90 on the day. From there he never looked back: a bye in the TOP 16, a TOP 8 win over Muhammet Başer, a semifinal over Akay Akbil, and a final over Çağlar Küçükdumlu.
One round in, Okman sits on 100 championship points.
THE FINAL
Çağlar Küçükdumlu earned the right to be there. The veteran came through the right bracket the long way — past Ertekin Tekneci, past a strong Görkem Eren in the TOP 8, past Doğuş Can Dursun in the semifinal — and met Okman in the championship battle. The kid took it. Çağlar closes Round 1 second on the timesheet and second on the points table at 90.
THE PODIUM
🏆 1st — Rüzgar Okman · 100 pts · Sailun Racing Team
🥈 2nd — Çağlar Küçükdumlu · 90 pts
🥉 3rd — Akay Akbil · 78 pts · Sailun Racing Team
4th — Doğuş Can Dursun · 65 pts
QUALIFYING — TOP 5
1. Rüzgar Okman — 92
2. Erol Özteknik — 90
3. Çağlar Küçükdumlu — 86
4. Akay Akbil — 85
5. Mehmet Yazgan — 85
WHAT THE NUMBER MEANS
Drift championships are not decided by speed. They are scored — by judges, on line, angle, style and commitment. Okman's 100 points off the back of Round 1 are the maximum on offer for a single weekend. He out-scored four senior PRO drivers older, heavier and far more experienced than him to get there. The line everyone in the paddock was using on Sunday evening: there is now a Round 1 leader on a wheel that needs a booster cushion.
SAILUN, SWEPT
Three Sailun Racing Team drivers entered the weekend: Rüzgar Okman, Akay Akbil and Erol Özteknik. Two of them stood on the podium. Erol was eliminated by Doğuş Can Dursun in the TOP 8 after starting second on the qualifying sheet. The team leaves İstanbul Park with first, third, and a TOP 8 finish. The numbers do their own talking.
WHO IS RÜZGAR OKMAN?
Okman is from Northern Cyprus and has been racing in KKDŞ (the North Cyprus Drift Championship) since he was old enough to fit a seat. In March 2026, in his very first KKDŞ round at NEU Event Park, he became the youngest race-winning driver in KKDŞ history, taking the Semi-Pro category and reaching the Pro semifinals on the same weekend.
His Türkiye debut came in October 2025 at the final round of TOSFED Drift Kupası. He qualified second and finished second. İstanbul Park is his first time on top of any timesheet in Türkiye — and his first time on top of TDŞ, full stop.
NEXT
Round 2 follows on the same weekend at İstanbul Park. The points table starts the way nobody on this grid expected: a 12-year-old from KKTC on top, by ten points.
ROUND 1 SUMMARY
📍 İstanbul Park, İstanbul
🏁 Türkiye Drift Şampiyonası 2026 · Round 1
👥 14 PRO entries
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