Salih Yoluç

Salih Yoluç - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Salih Yoluç

Ahmet Salih Yoluç (born 22 August 1985, Istanbul) is a Turkish racing driver. As a bronze-ranked competitor, Yoluç has taken notable accolades in sportscar racing, including the 2020 LMGTE Am class victory at Le Mans, the Pro-Am title in the 2019 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, as well as the 2022 European Le Mans Series and 2023 Asian Le Mans Series championships in the LMP2 category.

This profile of Salih Yoluç covers Career and Rise to Fame, Complete European Le Mans Series results, Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results and Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results.

Career and Rise to Fame of Salih Yoluç

Yoluç started his racing career in 2015 with Optimum Motorsport in the British GT Championship. The Turkish driver could taste success in his maiden season, winning the Dubai 24 Hour race.

At the end of 2015, Yoluç made a move to what would become his long-term team, TF Sport, and competed in the GT3 Le Mans Cup. There, Yoluç and Euan Hankey finished second in the drivers' standings with two victories, though they would win the teams' title. He and Hankey also drove in International GT Open during the same year, winning two races on their way to sixth place overall.

For the 2017 season, Yoluç moved into the LMGTE class of the European Le Mans Series alongside Hankey and Aston Martin factory driver Nicki Thiim. The trio fought for the title throughout the year, winning the season opener at Silverstone and taking podiums in five races, though they missed out to JMW Motorsport by merely two points. That year, Yoluç also raced in the Pro-Am class of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. Competing in the final three races, Yoluç would help teammates Jonathan Adam and Ahmad Al Harthy to two podium finishes, including second in class at the 24 Hours of Spa, which earned them the Pro-Am title. Also, Yoluç became the first ever Turkish driver to compete in 24 Hours of Le Mans. He finished seventh in class.

Yoluç switched to the FIA World Endurance Championship for its "Super Season", partnering Charlie Eastwood on a full-time basis. Despite a late retirement at Le Mans, the team performed well, scoring four podiums to end the season in third. In 2019, Yoluç and Eastwood also raced in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, winning the Pro-Am Cup title after triumphing during the 24 Hours of Spa.

During the second half of 2019, the Turkish-Irish pair would join Jonathan Adam in the WEC with TF Sport. During the season held over two years, the trio won the LMGTE Am category at the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans and took the runner-up spot in the championship with three further wins.

Career and Rise to Fame of Salih Yoluç

Yoluç switched to prototypes in 2021, racing an Oreca 07 in the LMP2 class of the ELMS with the TF Sport-offshoot Racing Team Turkey. Alongside Eastwood and Harry Tincknell, the Turkish driver could celebrate a lone victory at Le Castellet, though they would end up fourth in the LMP2 Pro-Am standings after a crash in practice prevented them from taking part in the final round. Yoluç and Eastwood returned with RTT for the 2022 season, this time teaming up with Jack Aitken. The outfit was dominant in the Pro-Am class, winning four races on their way to the title.

Ahead of the main 2023 campaign, Yoluç and Eastwood, who would be going into their sixth year as teammates, drove alongside Ayhancan Güven in the Asian Le Mans Series with DKR Engineering. With a win in Abu Dhabi and three further podiums, the trio took the LMP2 title. For their European season in the ELMS, Yoluç and Eastwood were joined by Louis Delétraz, who immediately helped them towards the overall race victory at Barcelona. From there on, the trio only focused for overall standings, another overall win in France was about to come until a late puncture demoted them to third overall. A DNF at Aragón and issues at Algarve event made them only finish third in the overall standings. At Le Mans, Yoluç retired during the evening.

During the winter, Yoluç and Eastwood took part in AsLMS alongside Michael Dinan, where the Turkish driver scored two pole positions but only ended up seventh in the teams' standings, before he was upgraded to an FIA silver-ranked competitor ahead of the 2024 season. As that meant that he could no longer compete in the ELMS's Pro-Am class, Yoluç moved into the Gold Cup category of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup with Eastwood, as well as partaking in several events of the GTD category of the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Lone Star Racing. The Sprint Cup campaign lasted for just two events, with the highlight being a class podium at Misano, meanwhile eighth in GTD at Daytona was the best result of Yoluç's IMSA season.

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.

Complete Formula Regional Asian Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salih_Yolu%C3%A7), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.