President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday attended the award ceremony of the World Rally Championship (WRC) Rally Turkey in Muğla's Marmaris district, awarding the cup to first place driver Ott Tanak of Estonia.

After a performance of the Turkish national anthem, the race's winners took the podium and were congratulated by the president.

Erdoğan presented Tanak with the winners' cup. Tanak, in a Toyota, claimed his third consecutive victory to move up to second place in the world championship standings.

Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu awarded second-place driver Jari-Matti Latvala and President of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) Jean Todt awarded Hayden Paddon, who came in third place.

In a brief speech, Erdoğan said Marmaris hosted a very competitive race.

"The most important feature of this championship is that it was broadcast on 133 channels, it was broadcast on sports channels, and 800 million people in the world followed this," Erdoğan said, pointing out that the event's coverage introduced people around the world to all the beauties of Turkey.

Erdoğan said Turkey looks forward to hosting the event next year and thanked FIA President Todt.

Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank also attended the ceremony.

The WRC Turkey was held between Sept. 13-16 in the Mediterranean resort town of Marmaris and hosted 68 cars from 22 countries to race 875 kilometers (544 miles) in 17 stages in 4 categories.

Turkish Automobile Sports Federation (TOSFED) announced that it will host the winner aboard a luxury motor yacht for a week to explore the Turkish Riviera.