This weekend marks the second of three overseas races for the GB3 Championship – with the first-ever visit to the Hungaroring. The 2.72-mile Grand Prix circuit is located on the outskirts of the Hungarian capital Budapest and will offer a brand new challenge for the GB3 field.
Heading to Hungary, Tymek Kucharczyk leads the championship by nine points from his Hitech GP team-mate Will Macintyre. Tymek shot to the points lead when he clinched two wins last time out at Spa-Francorchamps. And after scoring his third pole position of the season, the Polish driver also leads the Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup.
“The Hungaroinrg is new for GB3 this year and it’s my first time there too,” said Tymek. “It is going to be a challenging round but exciting at the same time. I am looking forward to learning another Grand Prix track. Plus it’s also quite close to my home town – about three and a half hours away – which is great, so I’m hoping there will be a big Polish crowd supporting me. As everyone will have so little experience of this track, it will be a different challenge, but we can use that to our advantage.”
The 14-turn Hungaroring has been hosting top-line international racing since 1986, when it held the Hungarian Grand Prix for the first time. Situated in a natural bowl, the track is a short drive from the beautiful and historic city of Budapest. Although it’s a new venue for the GB3 Championship, Hitech GP have plenty of experience, having won there last year in FIA Formula 3 and also victorious in FIA Formula 2 in the past too.
“Spa was my first time racing overseas, so the Hungaroring is another new track for me,” said Will. “But I’ve done what feels like millions of laps on the simulator, so I’m hoping to turn up and be confident right from the off. I feel Hitech GP will be good at this track with their FIA Formula 2 and FIA F3 experience so I’m looking forward to it.”
Will was also victorious last time out at Spa and made it a Hitech GP 1-2 as Gerrard Xie took second place to record his first podium of the year. The result will give Gerrard a lot of confidence as he looks to add to his tally of 100 points this coming weekend.
“I’m really looking forward to racing at the Hungaroring, as from what I hear it’s a track that requires a lot of commitment,” said the 17-year-old. “And with it being difficult to overtake there, the focus will be to do really well in qualifying.”
There will be plenty of track time for the GB3 runners with an hour’s running of practice on both Thursday and on Friday before qualifying on Saturday morning. A hot and dry weekend is forecast, with temperatures in the high 30s so managing tyre temperatures in the three races will be crucial.
Race one is at 18:10 local time (17:10 UK) on Saturday with the final two races on Sunday, June 23rd at 10:10 local time (09:10 UK) and 16:50 (15:50 UK). All the action will be available on MSV.TV [link — https://www.youtube.com/@msvcircuits/streams ]
