The FIA European Touring Car Cup returns to the Hungaroring following a one-year gap later this week (12-14 May) with Petr Fulín, Peter Rikli and Christjohannes Schreiber in a close battle for title success.

Schreiber, from Switzerland, heads the standings following his maiden victory last time out at Monza. However, with a slender three-point advantage over Czech SEAT driver Fulín and fellow Swiss and Honda-driving team-mate Rikli, there will be no time for Schreiber to relax in Hungary.

Other drivers in action include Germany’s Andreas Pfister, Fábio Mota from Portugal, Serb Mladen Lalušić, Macedonian Igor Stefanovski and Bulgarian Plamen Kralev, who gave his Kraf Racing Audi RS3 LMS its ETCC debut at Monza, scoring in Race 2.

Meanwhile, three young Hungarian drivers with a combined age of 63 will also be on track at the Hungaroring. Anett György, 20, Zsolt Dávid Szabó, 21, and Norbert Nagy, 22, form part of the three-strong Zengő Motorsport team as they continue to build their experience of international competition in the World Touring Car Championship’s established feeder series.

Although György and Szabó are both new to the ETCC for 2017, Nagy already has a foot in the door when it comes to future progression after he placed third in last season’s ETCC standings in a Zengő-run SEAT. He began the new season with a fifth and fourth at Monza last month.

“In Monza we saw that we can do well, but the Honda team has really strong cars,” said Nagy. “I hope that I will have some benefits here and use my local racing knowledge as I know the track quite well and when a Hungarian driver competes in an international series at the Hungaroring, people go crazy about them. It will be a very special weekend in my career, that’s for sure.”

ENTRY EXPANDS WITH WILDCARD DRIVERS
Interest in the 2017 ETCC continues to rise with two wildcard drivers on the grid at the Hungaroring. Competing on a race-by-race basis, they’re eligible for points but won’t qualify for a share of the €18,000 prize fund that’s divided between the various classified finishers registered for the full season. Alexandr Artemyev, from Kazakhstan, last raced in the ETCC at the Hungaroring two years ago and is back in a Baporo Motorsport SEAT, while Serbian Rudolf Pesovic will pilot ASK GM Racing’s Audi.

All Audis and SEATs in action at the Hungaroring will run to TCR rules and the category’s Balance of Performance under an agreement for 2017 between motorsport’s world governing body, the FIA, and WSC Ltd, the organisation behind TCR. They will compete in the headlining ETCC 1 category alongside FIA TCN2 and Single Make Trophy-eligible machinery.

WEEKEND OVERVIEW: The Hungaroring’s second appearance in the FIA European Touring Car Cup coincides with the timetable-topping WTCC JVCKENWOOD Race of Hungary. Following testing on Friday, which marks FIA Volunteers Day, Free Practice and Qualifying take place on Saturday with two 12-lap races on Sunday. Race 1 is at 09h00 local time with the second getting underway at 10h05. Both races will be broadcast live on Eurosport 2 and streamed as they happen at FIAETCC.com. Live timing and results are available at http://www.its-results.com/etcc.

THEY SAID WHAT?
Fábio Mota: “We didn’t get the results we wanted in Monza but we had a very profitable meeting between with the team and we will work hard to improve our performance. The championship is very competitive, but I believe that, if we evolve, we can fight for the best positions starting from Hungaroring.” 

Andreas Pfister: “We knew it would not be easy on Monza’s long straights with our older-specification DSG gearbox. We lost some top speed because of this but I had two good races and could collect some points. There are more corners at the Hungaroring and we should be more competitive.” 

Zsolt Dávid Szabó: “Hungaroring is a really special place for me because I drove a race car for the first time in my life there. Furthermore, I’m really motivated because of how many Hungarians come out to Mogyoród to support Zengő Motorsport. I would like to make them proud with a result on the podium, this is my target for the weekend. I even posted a competition to win tickets for the race on my Facebook page to raise more excitement.”

WHAT’S NEW FOR 2017? While the ETCC continues to feature at four WTCC events, including on a combined grid at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, Zolder returns to the calendar after a break of 12 months and Most hosts the ETCC for the first time at its season-finale meeting in early October. In other changes, the ETCC Super 2000 Cup has been renamed ETCC 1 with the ETCC Super 1600 Cup renamed ETCC 2. The ETCC Nations’ Cup will not be awarded in 2017.

RULES REFRESHER: The results of Qualifying will determine the grid order for Race 1 with the results of the first race deciding the starting grid for Race 2, albeit with the top eight finishers lining up in reverse order. However, unlike in previous seasons both races will begin from a standing start. ETCC 1 and ETCC 2 competitors will score points as follows: fastest three drivers in qualifying: 3-2-1. The top eight finishers in each class in each race will score: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. A race-by-race prize fund of €18,000 will be shared among the classified finishers in ETCC 1. Yokohama continues as the ETCC’s tyre partner for 2017.

PROVISIONAL KEY TIMINGS: 

Friday 12 May: 13h00-13h45: Testing 1; 14h45-15h30: Testing 2 
Saturday 13 May: 10h30-11h15: Free Practice; 15h45-16h15: Qualifying; 16h20 (approx.): Post-Qualifying press conference (Media Centre) 
Sunday 14 May: 09h00-09h25: Race 1 (12 laps); 10h05-10h30: Race 2 (12 laps);10h35: Race podiums; 10h45 (approx.): Post-Race press conference (Media Centre) Timings provisional, subject to change

STANDINGS: 1 Schreiber 20; 2 Fulín and Rikli 17; 4 Stefanovski and Nagy 9; 6 Pfister 4; etc.