Supercars, Superbikes & a Fighter Jet Hit the Track in Ultimate Race!

By James Derek Sapienza - September 24, 2018

Aston Martin, Lotus, and Tesla supercars, Kawasaki H2R & Formula 1 car go up against an F-16 and Challenger 605 private jet.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: A supercar, superbike, Formula 1 car, private jet, and fighter jet show up at an airfield. Sorry, that isn’t a joke. It really happened in Istanbul, Turkey, on September 21. The race was part of the opening festivities for Istanbul’s new international airport. And while this may sound like an unfair fight, the race was closer than you might think.

On the land-based side, an Aston Martin Vantage, Lotus Evora GT 430, and Tesla P100D squared off against a Kawasaki H2R and a Red Bull Formula 1 car. Those went up against an F-16 and Challenger 605 private jet. Split across three runways, the race looks absolutely epic.

Surprisingly, it was a photo-finish between the Kawasaki and the Red Bull car. The superbike, piloted by former Supersport World Champion Kenan Sofuoglu won the day, edging out the F1 racer driven by British driver Jake Dennis. For Sofuoglu, who recently retired from racing to become a Turkish politician, this is some pretty good PR.

“I had a dream of racing an F-16 jet and a Formula 1 car,” he tells The Daily Mail. “We extended it and found the opportunity to bring in… the world’s fastest sports cars… to this giant tarmac, the world’s longest runway.”

While the bike and the F1 car leave everything else in the dust, this is still an incredibly cool race to watch. With Istanbul being the major city it is, we have no doubt that once everything is up and running, there won’t be much time to make many top-speed attempts on these runways. But since the airport won’t open until October, we’d hope that a few speed demons will make a run or two before it’s too late.