Junior WRC
Türkkan crowned Junior WRC champion as Lassila wins Chile finale
Ali Türkkan completed a three-year pursuit of FIA Junior WRC glory at Rally Chile BIOBÍO, finishing second behind winner Leevi Lassila to become the first Turkish driver to claim the coveted title.
Türkkan arrived at the five-round season finale three points behind championship leader Calle Carlberg but leaves South America with 120 points and the biggest prize of his career: four fully funded WRC2 rounds, including testing, in an M-Sport-run Ford Fiesta Rally2 in 2027.
It marks the culmination of a long Junior WRC journey for the Castrol Ford Team Türkiye driver, who finished third in the championship in both 2024 and 2025 before finally reaching the summit at his third attempt.
“It is fantastic,” Türkkan said at the finish. “It took three years to make this. A lot of sacrifice and pain but we never gave up. Now we finally did it.
“I don’t know what to say. Big thanks to Castrol and Ford for the support and my family.”
The championship had been finely poised when the crews arrived in Concepción. Carlberg led Türkkan 95 points to 92, with Gil Membrado, Lassila and Kerem Kazaz also retaining mathematical hopes in a finale offering double classification points and one bonus point for every stage victory.
Carlberg strengthened his position by claiming two stage wins on Friday and another on Saturday morning, but the complexion of the championship changed dramatically when the Swede rolled heavily on SS11.
Türkkan had already seized the initiative by then. Four stage victories across Saturday carried valuable bonus points and put him into the rally lead overnight, 21.9sec ahead of Lassila.
With his chief championship rival sidelined, Sunday became a matter of balancing the pursuit of the rally victory against the far greater prize on offer.
Lassila ensured that choice quickly became straightforward. The Finn took more than 56sec out of Türkkan on Sunday’s opening 26.82km Carampangue test to sweep into the lead, then controlled the remaining three stages to secure his maiden Junior WRC victory by 1min 20.3sec.
It was an impressive recovery from Lassila, who had survived a roll on Saturday morning’s first pass through María las Cruces with little more than bodywork damage. Victory, combined with the two stage points he scored on Friday, lifted him from fourth to second in the final championship standings on 107 points.
Craig Rahill completed the Rally Chile podium, 3min 58.3sec behind Lassila, while Membrado salvaged fourth after a weekend of contrasting fortunes.
The Spaniard had rolled on Saturday’s opening stage and then lost more than four minutes with intercooler damage, but underlined his speed by completing a clean sweep of all four Sunday stages. Those four bonus points, added to his Friday stage win, helped him finish fourth in the championship on 88 points.
Carlberg’s three Chile stage points were enough for the Swede to retain third in the final standings on 98 despite his retirement, while Rahill climbed to fifth with 58.
