In the second race, we achieved what we had prepared for throughout the weekend. Being among the front-runners, securing a Top 10 result at the Hungaroring during the Clio Cup Europe’s Hungarian weekend.
For this year, we couldn’t secure a seat and lacked a sponsorship background. Encouraged by many, we started crowdfunding to gather the necessary funds for the weekend. And not only did we succeed in reaching our goal, but we even managed to gather more than expected.
A Clio Cup Europe idei 14 fordulójából a magyarországi volt a nyolcadik forduló. A bajnokság több részre van bontva, spanyol, francia, olasz és közép-európai fordulók vannak, és a 14 versenyhétvégéből kilenc számít bele az EB értékelésébe. A Hungaroring az Európa-kupa negyedik versenye volt.
The Hungarian round was the eighth out of 14 rounds in this year’s Clio Cup Europe. The championship is divided into several parts, including Spanish, French, Italian, and Central European rounds, and out of the 14 race weekends, nine are considered for the European Cup evaluation. The Hungaroring event marked the fourth race of the European Cup.
It is interesting that according to their rules, newcomers who join the championship in the second half, when a ranking has already been established, do not receive points. They are evaluated, receive a trophy and prize money, but no points. Therefore, we were not eligible for points since this was the eighth race out of the 14. However, this was not our main concern as our goal was not solely focused on earning points.
On Thursday, we got acquainted with GM Sport, which is a mid-tier team in the championship. Their drivers typically compete in the midfield, and their top driver is the team principal and namesake, Guillaume Maio, whose name we couldn’t manage to pronounce correctly even during the entire weekend.
The team was very kind, even though they didn’t speak English. They „borrowed” one of the mechanics-engineers from Milan Competition, Arnaud, who helped us throughout with translations and essentially everything we needed.
The atmosphere of the whole championship, the surroundings, was very friendly. Everyone was helpful, smiling, and happy for us, being the first Hungarian in the cup.
There was an official photoshoot where we were „loaned” a Renault overall. If we participate throughout the whole year, they will produce one for us.
Thanks to the donations, we had everything settled in advance, so there were no financial concerns, and we could solely focus on racing while everything was taken care of.
During the first practice session, the goal was to familiarize ourselves with the car, and to our surprise, we immediately achieved the ninth fastest time without any drafting. In the team, Guillaume Maio was faster, but he was also slow compared to what is needed for a flying lap. However, the pace was good on used tires, and we were very optimistic as everyone expects continuous improvement in such situations. We were eight tenths off the time set by the fourteen-time champion Nicolas Milan.
However, strange things happened during the second practice session. As planned, we used two new tires to start adapting to the qualifying when we would be using four new tires. But nothing happened; despite having more grip, the car weakened. The eight-tenths gap remained, and we expected it to be much smaller.
After the practice, we received the GPS data, where we could see that at the measurement point (around the middle of the main straight), the car was no longer reaching a speed of 184 km/h, but only 179 km/h.
The team believed that I was overloading the cornering, causing the front tires to overheat, which resulted in poor acceleration and a lack of pace. This led us into a spiral, as we attempted to make setup adjustments in order to improve the car’s turn-in as much as possible.
During the qualifying session, we managed to secure the 11th position without benefiting from any slipstream. However, we were consistently last in terms of top speed. We still couldn’t understand what was happening. While the 11th place was not a major issue, being eight tenths off the pace of the leader, we had a feeling that something was not right.
My first start in the Clio Cup Europe wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either. I only had one practice start, so there is definitely room for improvement in that area. I lost a few positions at the beginning of the race, but managed to regain them later on. I had to defend my position throughout the race because I was slower in the first sector. The current leader of the Gentleman Driver championship couldn’t control himself behind me and ended up pushing me out in the chicane.
The left rear wheel rim broke and I got a puncture. I limped back to the pit lane for a wheel change and rejoined the race, now with a significant gap behind the rest of the field. Unfortunately, I had to use one of the two spare tires that were set aside for Sunday, according to the regulations.
I couldn’t catch up to the field despite the Safety Car period, and as a result, I finished the first race in the second-to-last position, 25th place. It wasn’t the way I wanted to repay the opportunity I was given.
The lack of pace persisted, as I was still 5-6 km/h slower at the measurement point.
For the Sunday qualifying session, we continued to adjust the car, but unfortunately, we were still searching in the wrong direction, wandering further into the forest we found ourselves in.
This time we discussed slipstreaming, hoping it would help. First, I towed Maio, who managed to set a very good lap, and then it was my turn. Since he was slower than me, it didn’t really work out as planned.
I set the 12th fastest time, but I wasn’t satisfied at all. Once again, my car was the slowest on the track. Eventually, more people joined in the investigation, and they found a minor issue with the right rear wheel, but the main problem was discovered: the turbo wasn’t receiving proper cooling due to a clogged filter.
The second race was completely different. I knew it would be a tough race because now I didn’t have to worry about preserving the car, and the front-runners who compete throughout the season surely have the necessary support to take more risks.
Despite my efforts to be careful, I received several hits, and at the third corner, I was spun around. Perhaps my rally experience helped me regain control.
Multiple cars were involved in crashes, and the Safety Car came out. As a result, I slipped back to the 14th position.
I wasn’t happy to spend half of the race behind the Safety Car because I felt that it was my time to shine. We had 13 minutes left in the race when we received the green flag again. I managed to overtake several drivers, but it took some time to make those moves.
It took me some time to climb up to the ninth position, but by that time, the leading pack had already pulled away, leaving me with a 4-second gap. I started closing in on them, but there wasn’t enough time left to catch up.
I was waved off at the ninth position, and I’m completely satisfied with that. With the level of preparation I had, this was the best I could achieve in this field.
Lastly, the most important thought: You made this happen for me. Without your support, I wouldn’t have been able to compete in an international championship over the weekend. It’s still hard to believe that it actually happened.
Many people came up to us, even though we were in a secluded spot.
Now, there’s only one question left. Should we continue?
Photo: Julien Delfosse / DPPI – Speedlight Photo Agency