Hüseyin Çetinkaya

Çetinkaya in 2004.

Izmir, Turkey

**Hüseyin Ismail Ahmet Süleyman Çetinkaya** (born 21st September 1976) is a Turkish racing driver.

## **Early Life**

Çetinkaya was born to mother Hatice and father Ismail, the latter being the owner of Çetinkaya Demir A.Ş. (ÇEDAŞ), one of the largest exporters of steel and other metals in Europe. Hüseyin and his family would move around the world a lot thanks to his father's business, to countries like Japan, Germany and the United States.

## Racing Career

### Karting and junior formulae

Hüseyin started his racing career aged 10 in the All Japan Karting Championship, being the only non-Japanese driver in the field. Aged 13 he would finish second in the Formula K class. As the Çetinkaya family moved to Germany, this gave Hüseyin the opportunity to race in the European Karting Championship, and immediately the Turkish driver would impress as he finished third on his debut season.
Hüseyin would fly back to his native town of Izmir to compete in the brand new Turkish Formula 3 Championship, and aged 16 he would win the Turkish F3 championship on his season debut, becoming the youngest ever driver to do so. Hüseyin moved back to Germany to compete in the German Formula 3 Championship, where he would finish seventeenth in the championship in his first year. His results would pick up for the next season, finishing sixth with a best finish of P3 at the Diepholz round.

Hüseyin would next compete in the British Formula 3000 championship, but a big crash at Snetterton saw Çetinkaya sit out the remainder of the season due to an injury.

Hüseyin and his family would move to the United States in the winter of 1993, and his father signed a deal with Indy Lights team Tasman Motorsport to let his son race for them in the following year.

### Indy Lights

For the 1996 Indy Lights season, Çetinkaya signed with Tasman Motorsport. He had a rough start to the season, finishing outside the top ten in the first three races. But he bounced back with a third-place finish at the Milwaukee Mile. Çetinkaya then went on to finish in the top ten in the next five races, including a second-place finish at the Cleveland Grand Prix. Despite missing two races, he finished seventh in the championship standings.

Çetinkaya stayed with Tasman Motorsport for the 1997 season. He had a strong start to the year, finishing in the top ten in the first six races, including another third-place finish at the Milwaukee Mile. However, his luck would take a turn for the worse as he failed to finish four of the next six races. He managed to bounce back with a fourth-place finish at the season finale in Fontana, finishing tenth in the championship standings.

For his final season in Indy Lights, Çetinkaya signed with the newly formed TK Motorsports. He had a consistent year, finishing in the top ten in eight of the twelve races. His best finish of the season came at the Nazareth Speedway, where he finished third. He finished the season eighth in the championship standings.

### CART

After three seasons in Indy Lights, Çetinkaya was called up to race in CART for PacWest Racing in 1999 alongside Michael Crawford, fielding the street circuit and oval rounds only. At the opnening round in Long Beach, things seemed to go well for Hüseyin as he was running in the points for the majority of the race. However, he crashed out into turn 31, and was 1 lap away from being classified. Another retirement would unfortunately be on the cards for Hüseyin at the infamous 1999 Indianapolis 500, where he would controversially crash into Remy de Pontchartrain while being lapped. After two disappointing results, points would finally be on the board for Hüseyin at the U.S. 500 in Michigan, where he was consistently in the points once again from the start. He briefly fell out of the points due to a poor strategy call however a well-timed caution saw the Turkish driver re-enter into the points. He would later be involved in a final lap accident with many drivers, however he was classified as P9 in the race, scoring his first and only points in his final CART race of 1999. Overall, it would prove to be a tough year for the Turkish driver, as he failed to finish in any of the races he attended. He finished the season in 19th place in the championship standings.

### Post-1999 career

Following his stint in CART, Hüseyin Çetinkaya continued his racing career in various series throughout the early 2000s. In 2000, he competed in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) with the Olive Garden Racing team, driving a Ferrari 333SP. The team had a strong start to the season, finishing fourth in class at the 12 Hours of Sebring. However, they struggled to maintain that momentum and failed to finish the majority of the races. Çetinkaya left the team mid-season and did not compete for the rest of the year.

In 2001, Çetinkaya returned to the German Formula 3 Championship, driving for the Ma-Con team. He had a solid season, finishing sixth in the championship with a best finish of third place at the Sachsenring. He also competed in the FIA GT Championship, driving for the BMS Scuderia Italia team. He and his teammate finished fourth in class at the 24 Hours of Spa.

In 2002, Çetinkaya raced in the Spanish Formula 3 Championship with the Coloni team. He had a strong start to the season, finishing on the podium in the first three races. However, his luck would take a turn for the worse as he failed to finish the next two races. He bounced back with a win at the Jarama circuit, but struggled to maintain consistency throughout the rest of the season. He finished fifth in the championship standings.

In 2003, Çetinkaya returned to the FIA GT Championship, driving for the Lister Storm Racing team. He and his teammate finished on the podium in four of the nine races, including a win at the Oschersleben circuit. They finished the season fourth in the championship standings. Çetinkaya also competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the team, finishing 13th overall and fifth in class.