Burcu Cetinkaya wants to be judged on her performances behind the wheel of her Peugeot Sport Turkey 207 Super 2000 and not the amount of publicity she generates when she begins her season-long Intercontinental Rally Challenge campaign in Sardinia next month.
The 29-year-old from Istanbul used her country’s round of the World Rally Championship last month to gain experience of her new car. Although she generated extensive coverage in the Turkish media by finishing as the top local driver on the event in 12th overall, she admitted she wasn’t entirely happy with her performance.
“I want to concentrate on the sporting side and not the media side,” said Cetinkaya.
“Although it’s very good for helping with sponsors the sporting success is much more important. We made some mistakes in Turkey so we need to work on that and that will get my full energy.”
Cetinkaya will take part in a two-day asphalt test in France from 20-21 May before returning to gravel with a test in Sardinia immediately before the fifth round of the IRC.
“We are due to test for 200 kilometres to prepare for the Ypres Rally [in June],” said Cetinkaya. “Although it will be on asphalt it’s still good because I will be able to get time in the car.”