Those of us who are not into car racing would think when someone refers to the F1 that they mean the top-left key near the Esc key on the computer keyboard.Not so!
It means Formula One…
Turkey is one of the youngest circuits on the raceway calendar, and it seems rapidly becoming one of the most loved. After reading a CNN report with Berne Ecclstone, who described the F-1 track as "the best track in the world," adding that he liked the track because there are several places to overtake and it has a sweeping eight curve which is great for taking flat out, I must admit I thought to myself that the track sound s better and safer than the E-5 or TEM.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan saw the international prestige and potential for the tourism industry associated with bringing Formula One to the country, and his government has developed the site. Since its inaugural race in 2005, regular Turkish Grand Prix events have been held.
It is a great outing for the boys and men in the family. If you have not had a chance to see Istanbul Park, known as the Istanbul Racing Circuit, you need to go to Akfırat east of Istanbul and follow the sign. The Istanbul Park racing circuit is special in that it is one of only three circuits of the 2008 Formula One season that runs counter-clockwise. The main grandstand seats 25,000 spectators.
If that is not enough space, an additional natural ground stand and temporary stands can provide a total capacity of over 155,000. That's a lot of spectators.
With the increase in automotive interest, naturally the automotive industry has been growing astride Asia and Europe.
The Turkish Grand Prix has acted as a stimulus to the automotive industry also¸ and the industry has grown to be the sixth largest in the Europe-Mediterranean rim region in the last 15 years.
It seems that with Turkey's strategic geographic location between Europe and Asia, and the increased availability of workers equipped with modern manufacturing skills, the nation is an ideal base. According to a report by the Automotive Manufacturers Association of Turkey, 1,024,987 vehicles were produced in the country in 2006, almost double the number manufactured in 2003. Domestic demand has stagnated due to high sales tax and high interest on loans to buy a car.
Not all the cars produced in Turkey stay in Turkey.
The export market is ever more important. Approximately 45 percent of all vehicles manufactured in Turkey are commercial vehicles -- ideal for export to Europe and for the country's mountainous interior, known as Anatolia, which is a geographic region between the Black Sea in the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west.
Nowadays the homegrown vehicles are less common. When I first came to Turkey in the late 1970s, I remember seeing the different models of the car Anadol for the first time. The Anadol was Turkey's first domestic mass-produced car. Anadol cars and pick-ups were manufactured between 1966 and 1991 by Otosan. They were boxy-looking, and the one I hired for a weekend had little pick-up-and-go.
Some of you may have been around in the 1970s. Do you remember also seeing many Chevy and Buick cars from the 1950s… Well, that's another story
If money is no concern for you and you like racing, you may be interested in the new model -- the Etox Zafer, the first-ever Turkish sports car since the Anadol STC. It is a speedy sporty two-seater with a price tag starting at around $56,000.
I think to help reduce the Istanbul traffic problem and make the roads safer, we need to think more broadly.
I'm convinced that the solution to İstanbul traffic is the nautical auto. I read in an airline magazine about the Aquada, an amphibious car, made by famous Virgin CEO Richard Branson. He drove it across the English Channel on a test run. It resembles a Mazda MX-5 on the road but on water once the wheels are retracted, it turns into a jet engine outboard with a cruising speed of 30 knots. It sells for 100,000 euros. For some of us, if the price does not put us off, the fact that it only holds three passengers may.
"No other man-made device since the shields and lances of the ancient knights fulfills a man's ego like an automobile." Sir William Rootes
