Eagle Talon Open Class Car
1977 - Production class champion in Turkey 1979-80 - Overall champion in Turkey 1980 - Balkan champion, Production class 1993, 94, 96 - Production GT winner at Mt. Washington Hillclimb 1994-96 - North American Rally Cup Production GT champion 1994, 1996 - U.S. Production CT champion 1997 - Built Open class Eagle Talon; won Mt. Washington Hillclimb overall
At the age of 18, Selcuk started rallying in his native Turkey. Switching with his brother between driving and co-driving, he competed throughout Turkey and the Balkans, winning and crashing as he developed his rally skills. They raced Mini Coopers, Porsches, and finally a BMW Bavaria, which carried them to a first in class and second overall in the 1977 Turkish championship.
In 1979, Selcuk switched to a Ford Escort, and, with fiance Lale as co- driver, won the overall Turkish championship and the Balkan Production class title. At the end of the season, Selcuk sold all his rally equipment, married Lale, and decided to move to the U.S. They built a house in Georgetown (north of Portland), Maine, and Selcuk directed his attention elsewhere - but he still had an urge to rally.
His comeback started in 1993, with the building of a Mitsubishi Eclipse AWD for the Mt. Washington Hillclimb and the Production GT class. Although Mitsubishi pulled their contingency award program right after Selcuk completed his car, he managed to enter several events in '93, scoring a 4th place overall at Mt. Washington and several top five U.S. and Canadian rally finishes. He and co-driver John McArthur took both the Canadian and U.S. series by storm in 1994, wrapping up both Production GT titles by mid- season, and clinching the North American Rally Cup. Near the end of the year, however, Selcuk rolled the car at high speed at the Charlevoix Canadian event, totalling the racer. In 1995, while developing a new Eagle Talon Production GT car, Selcuk ran a limited schedule, but was still able to capture the NARC Production GT crown.
For '96, with new co-driver Yorgi Bittner and more horsepower from a new turbo system, Selcuk not only clinched the Production GT crown early in the season, but won one rally (Doo Wops) overall, and was in the top three overall consistently. His overall finishes earned him an FIA designation, held by only six U.S. and Canadian drivers.
Last year, with a new Open Class 360 hp. Eagle Talon, new co-driver Tony Lumino, from Westport, Maine, and a new full time crew, Selcuk ran several events. Although the car, built by Selcuk and Marc Verreault, had teething problems, Selcuk managed a fourth and fifth-place finishes. Selcuk streaked to the overall win at the 1997 Mt. Washington Hillclimb.