The World Touring Car Championship has confirmed that, as anticipated, it will visit Hungary for the first time in June. The Race of Hungary will be held at the Hungaroring near Budapest, and fills the void in the calendar left by the cancellation of the Marrakech round.
The promoter of the Race of Morocco failed to gain the necessary support to run the event on the streets of Marrakech for a third consecutive year. This led to the WTCC looking for a suitable venue in central Europe to hold a replacement round.
The two races at the circuit that hosts the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix will take place on 5th June. The creation of a WTCC round in Hungary follows the arrival of native Norbert Michelisz in the championship at the beginning of last year.
WTCC promoter Marcello Lotti is pleased to bring the championship to Hungary. “We are very happy that the opportunity arose to find a worthy replacement for Marrakech,” said Lotti. “Budapest is the perfect solution: it is a modern and demanding circuit with impressive facilities, brings the championship to a new country in which WTCC has a lot of fans thanks to Norbert Michelisz and also means huge saving in terms of logistics as it lies only 350 km away from Brno that hosts the following event.”
Zsolt Gyulay, CEO of Hungaroring Sport Plc, said: “We are very happy that the opportunity arose to find a worthy replacement for Marrakech. Budapest is the perfect solution: it is a modern and demanding circuit with impressive facilities, brings the championship to a new country in which WTCC has a lot of fans thanks to Norbert Michelisz and also means huge saving in terms of logistics as it lies only 350 km away from Brno that hosts the following event.”
Michelisz himself added: “I am very happy because this is a great opportunity to show how competitive we are. I was racing at the Hungaroring from the beginning of my career, so I know the circuit well. It makes me very proud to race in front of my home supporters and I will be aiming for some good results to please my fans.”
