TEXACO Team AMS has officially finalized the two line-ups announced at the beginning of January ahead of the 2026 TCR European Endurance season. The Turkish outfit, which has been present since the inaugural race of the European endurance series for touring cars, is preparing to tackle its third consecutive season in the championship with a group of highly experienced drivers.
The main novelty concerns the addition of Vedat Ali Dalokay, one of the most experienced Turkish drivers on the international scene, who is set to make his absolute debut in the series promoted by RIZA International. Born in Istanbul, Dalokay built a large part of his racing career in Italy, claiming the DSG title in TCR Italy in 2023, one of the most competitive national championships within the TCR landscape. In 2024 he moved to GT cars, making his debut in the GT Cup class of the Italian Gran Turismo Championship, before taking the international step and competing in TCR Europe in 2025.
An impressive résumé that will see him, for the 2026 season, team up with Sinan Çiftçi, who had already been announced by the team led by Ibrahim Okyay. The duo will compete with an Audi RS3 LMS TCR Gen2, the version equipped with a sequential gearbox, with the goal of immediately fighting for the overall standings starting from the opening round scheduled at Vallelunga.
Completing the TEXACO Team AMS line-up in the Gen1 class will be the return of Umut Göktaş, a young Turkish talent who made his debut at Vallelunga during the third round of last season. Alongside him will once again be Berk Kalpaklıoğlu, with whom he shared the DSG-class car in the final part of the 2025 season. Both drivers are chasing their first class victory in the TCR European Endurance, having so far achieved a second-place finish at Vallelunga as their best result.
The pairing fielded by the Istanbul-based team will also have the task of defending the two consecutive titles won in the first two years of the championship’s history in the Gen1 class. At the same time, the Turkish squad is working intensively behind the scenes to bring a third car onto the grid in 2026 in the DSG class, the category in which the team secured the title during the 2024 season.
The new TCR European Endurance season will kick off on April 19 at the Autodromo Piero Taruffi in Vallelunga, officially launching the third year of the continental series dedicated to touring cars in endurance configuration. The calendar will then continue with the Slovakiaring round scheduled for June 7, followed by the new addition of Circuit Ricardo Tormo, which will enter the championship calendar for the first time with the event set for September 27. The season will conclude with the final round on November 15 at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, where the last points of the season will be awarded and the final championship winners will be crowned.
