Jason Tahincioğlu

Jason Tahincioğlu (pronounced [tahindʒioːɫu]; born 29 October 1983 in Bristol, United Kingdom), also known as Jason Tahinci, is a Turkish-British auto racing driver born into a car racing family.

Jason Tahincioglu
Nationality	Turkish
Born	(1983-10-29) 29 October 1983 (age 41) Bristol (United Kingdom)
Related to	Mümtaz Tahincioğlu, Ann Tahincioğlu
GP2 Series career
Debut season	2006
Current team	Petrol Ofisi FMS International
Car number	10
Starts	40
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	30th in 2006
Previous series
2003–2005 2006 2006–2007 2008	British Formula Renault World Series by Renault Euroseries 3000 GP2 Asia

Career

Tahincioğlu started driving mini karts at the age of six. In 1990, he debuted in kart racing. From 1991 on, he became champion in mini-kart racing for four successive years. Tahincioğlu moved up then in 1995 to the Promo kart series and became second after his elder sister Raina Tahincioğlu. The next year, he went to the Netherlands to participate in the championships there and became 5th among 24 drivers. Returning to Turkey, Tahincioğlu became champion in the Promo series in 1997 and 1998. During this time, he also participated in the European Junior Championships. He moved to the Super kart category and became champion in 1999 and 2000. Tahincioğlu ended his kart racing career with 8 Turkish championship titles.^[1]

Tahincioğlu experienced the taste of driving a Formula Three racing car for the first time on his birthday in 1998, a gift from his father Mümtaz Tahincioğlu, long-time president of Turkish Motorsports Federation (TOSFED) and FIA Council Member.^[2] In 2000, he debuted in the Turkish Formula Three Championship and finished in second place. In 2001, he did not race in order to finish high school. From 2002, he competed in the British Formula Renault^[1][3] championship finishing 20th in 2005. In August 2005, Tahincioğlu became the first ever Turkish racer to drive a Formula One car when he completed test runs for Jordan Grand Prix on a Toyota TF105 at the Silverstone Circuit.^[2]

In 2006, Tahincioğlu became the teammate of Luca Filippi in the GP2 team FMS International, with the Turkish gasoline company Petrol Ofisi named as their new sponsor at the same time. He signed a two-year deal with the team, matching the sponsorship deal made as a part of Petrol Ofisi's backing extension.^[4] Despite scoring no points, he was retained for the second year of his contract in 2007. In 2006 he also raced in the Turkish leg of the World Series by Renault. He competed in both races in the 3.5 class.

For the 2008 season, he competed for the BCN Competicion team in the GP2 Asia Series.^[5] In the same year, he was also a test driver for the Galatasaray team in the inaugural Superleague Formula season, having revealed he was a lifelong fan of Galatasaray.^[6]

Tahincioğlu was educated in automotive engineering at the University of Bath in England.^[1][7]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2002	British Formula Three Championship	Fred Goddard Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2003	Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship	Mark Burdett Motorsport	17	0	0	0	0	49	21st
2004	Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship	Team JLR	20	0	0	0	0	53	27th
2005	Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship	Team JLR	14	0	0	0	0	66	20th
		Team AKA	6	0	0	0	0
	1000 km of Istanbul – LMP1	Jota Sport	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	5th
2006	GP2 Series	Petrol Ofisi FMS International	22	0	0	0	0	0	30th
	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Eurointernational	2	0	0	0	0	0	40th
	Euroseries 3000	Team Astromega	3	0	0	0	0	4	14th
2007	GP2 Series	Petrol Ofisi FMS International	22	0	0	0	0	0	33rd
	Euroseries 3000	Eurointernational	4	0	0	0	1	9	13th
2008	GP2 Asia Series	BCN Competición	10	0	0	0	0	0	22nd
	Superleague Formula	Galatasaray S.K.	Test driver

Complete GP2 Series results

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

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	DC	Points
2006	Petrol Ofisi FMS International	VAL FEA DNS	VAL SPR Ret	IMO FEA Ret	IMO SPR Ret	NÜR FEA DSQ	NÜR SPR 18	CAT FEA 15	CAT SPR 19	MON FEA Ret	SIL FEA 13	SIL SPR 16	MAG FEA Ret	MAG SPR 17	HOC FEA 17	HOC SPR 17	HUN FEA Ret	HUN SPR 14	IST FEA 17	IST SPR 17	MNZ FEA 11	MNZ SPR 13	30th	0
2007	Petrol Ofisi FMS International	BHR FEA Ret	BHR SPR 13	CAT FEA DNS	CAT SPR Ret	MON FEA Ret	MAG FEA 15	MAG SPR 18	SIL FEA 19	SIL SPR 16	NÜR FEA 17	NÜR SPR 19	HUN FEA Ret	HUN SPR 11	IST FEA 14	IST SPR Ret	MNZ FEA 11	MNZ SPR 20	SPA FEA 14	SPA SPR 20	VAL FEA 13	VAL SPR Ret	33rd	0

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

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

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	DC	Points
2008	BCN Competición	DUB FEA 19	DUB SPR 16	SEN FEA Ret	SEN SPR 17	SEP FEA 12	SEP SPR Ret	BHR FEA 17	BHR SPR 13	DUB FEA 9	DUB SPR 8	22nd	0

References

1. Soykan, Timur (19 August 2003). "Doğuştan 'Formula'cı". Radikal (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 30 January 2005. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
2. Zabcı, Faruk (10 August 2005). "F1'in ilk Türk test pilotu". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 19 September 2013.
3. "İşte bizim Schumi". Sabah (in Turkish). 22 November 2002. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
4. "Tahinci graduates with FMS". Crash (website). 14 February 2006. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
5. "Jason Tahincioğlu, Competicion'la anlaştı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 18 January 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
6. "Yarış Arabamızın Testleri Başladı!" (in Turkish). Galatasaray Spor Kulübü. 20 July 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
7. "Press Release-17 August 2005 Student on work placement to become first Turkish Formula One racing car driver". University of Bath. Retrieved 21 September 2010.

External links

• Jason Tahinci at GP2 in Eurosport^{[permanent dead link‍]}
• Jason Tahinci at GP2 Series