Race Report

Civic Type R TCR drivers Hungary for success in Budapest

23 Apr 2019

WTCR Race of Hungary

Hungaroring, Hungary

WTCR 2019, Round 2

Honda’s Civic Type R TCR drivers head to Hungary this weekend determined to add to their successful start to the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup.

Victory at the season-opening event in Morocco propelled ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport to the top of the Teams’ Championship while KCMG came through their full-time debut in the series with flying colours.

With the circus moving on to the Hungaroring, close to the country’s capital city, Budapest for the second of 10 events on the calendar, hopes are high for more success.

For KCMG’s series rookie, Attila Tassi, the Hungaroring is his home circuit; the 19-year-old hailing from Budapest.

After scoring his first championship points in Race Three in Marrakech, the local favourite has his eyes on an even stronger result this weekend.

Not only did he make his WTCR debut at the track last year, he was also a double-winner there in TCR International in 2017 in one of his first few race weekends at the wheel of a Civic Type R TCR.

Team-mate Tiago Monteiro also has strong memories of the Hungaroring as it was the scene of a WTCC victory in 2017 that helped him to maintain his lead of the Drivers’ Championship for the factory Honda team.

The Portuguese racer finished sixth in Morocco and impressively reached the Q3 pole-position shoot-out to lie ninth in the Drivers’ points table.

If Morocco went well for KCMG, it was fantastic for ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport, who lead the WTCR Teams’ points table after pole position and victory for Esteban Guerrieri and a third-place finish for new team-mate Nestor Girolami.

The German squad secured a landmark first win for the Civic Type R TCR in the WTCR last year as Yann Ehrlacher led home Esteban in a team one-two in the opening race.

Fresh from his Marrakech win, Esteban is determined to send himself to the top of the Drivers’ points table while ‘Bebu’ wants to improve on his current fourth position.

The Hungaroring weekend starts with opening practice on Friday evening. Qualifying and the opening race follow on Saturday with another qualifying session and two races on Sunday.

2019 WTCR Race of Morocco

Honda Pro Racing / David Noels

Attila Tassi ⁹

“Racing in front of your home fans is always great, but it feels even more special now that I’m driving full-time at a world level. Last year I made my WTCR debut here together with KCMG as wildcards and we showed top-10 speed in qualifying, even if the circumstances put us on the back foot. We can use that, and the Race Three speed in Morocco to help us move towards the front here. Unlike Marrakech, it’s a track I know well and that means that at least we start on a level footing with the others. I’m excited to see what the weekend will bring.”

KCMG

Tiago Monteiro ¹⁸

“The Hungaroring is a significant track for me because it’s the last circuit at which I stood on the top step of the podium in World Touring Cars. I’ve driven the Civic Type R TCR here in testing and it feels strong. The long corners should suit the Honda, which is a very well-balanced car, and I think we can do something pretty good. Marrakech was a strong debut and we proved a lot of people wrong who doubted we could run right at the front. The result in the last race was tough, but that’s racing and we definitely have the ability to stay strong this weekend.”

KCMG

Esteban Guerrieri ⁸⁶

“Morocco was fantastic for us as it showed that the hard work we’d put into testing with the Civic Type R TCR was all worth it. The car was strong all weekend and we scored some good points. The Hungaroring is a very different kind of circuit with much longer corners that wear the tyres more quickly, but this should suit the Honda very well. Last year we had a one-two finish as a team in the first race here and it would be great to repeat this.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport

Nestor Girolami ²⁹

“To get on the podium in Morocco was perfect and we had a very strong team performance. We tested at the Hungaroring pre-season, and although it was much colder than we expect this weekend to be, we took away some useful information and will aim to use this to make both my car and Esteban’s as fast as possible. We’ll need to be at our very best to stay on top in the Teams’ Championship, but everyone’s working hard to make sure that’s what happens.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport