WTCC to race at Budapest in june

Rounds 7 and 8 of the 2011 FIA World Touring Car Championship will take place at Budapest’s Hungaroring on June 5.

The WTCC Race of Hungary replaces the WTCC Race of Morocco that was scheduled on the same weekend at Marrakech but was cancelled after the local promoter was not able to secure the financial support required to keep the event going.

This will be the first time the WTCC visits the 4.4km racetrack that is home to the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix.

Championship promoter Marcello Lotti 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.”

Zsolt Gyulay, CEO of the Hungaroring Sport Plc. echoed: "I am very glad that Hungary was given the chance to stage a WTCC event. This FIA World Championship is the second most popular series after Formula One. For this reason I think that the Hungaroring has added another prestigious international event to its racing calendar and this is also invaluable to Hungary because of the tourism. We sincerely hope that the WTCC Race of Hungary will be exciting and interesting for the Hungarian and the foreign fans. It is of high importance to us that Hungarian driver Norbert Michelisz can compete in front of Hungarian audience and at a Hungarian track for the first time in the series’ history."

Norbert Michelisz commented: “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.”