{"id":15849,"date":"2025-05-20T22:45:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T20:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/?p=15849"},"modified":"2025-05-20T22:45:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T20:45:48","slug":"we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"We Started the Season Faster \u2013 But It Doesn\u2019t Show Yet"},"content":{"rendered":"

We scraped together the budget for the first race of the 2025 season at the very last moment. I want to thank everyone who made it possible for me to get back behind the wheel of a race car. Even though the weekend didn’t bring big results, it was still important for me to be on the grid \u2013 and here\u2019s why.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even a week before the race, it wasn\u2019t certain that I\u2019d be able to compete. Once again, thanks to community support, friends, and my team, I had the chance to line up at the Red Bull Ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, I finished third in the GTX category of the Eset Cup Series. Over the winter, the championship was renamed \u2013 it\u2019s now called the GT Cup Series<\/strong>. One of the biggest changes: already in the first weekend, we had 11 cars in the GTX category and a total of 26 entries in the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to upgrades, we\u2019ve skipped past GT4-level cars and I was able to challenge older Cup-spec Porsches. I was two seconds faster in every condition compared to the same time last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The rear end of the car was completely rebuilt \u2013 I was still testing it in a stripped-down form.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Out of the 11 GTX entries, my Lotus was the weakest \u2013 even though it\u2019s now lighter and more powerful than it was last year. The track didn\u2019t suit the car last year either \u2013 the Lotus simply can\u2019t accelerate out of corners the way the other cars do. That\u2019s natural: I\u2019m still down at least 150\u2013200 horsepower, and I lacked mechanical grip. Not to mention the turbo cars have way more torque.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My car is strong in high-speed corners and more technical tracks. But the Red Bull Ring is all about heavy braking zones and hard exits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the driver in 9th place was four seconds ahead of me. That\u2019s why we didn\u2019t put on a new set of slicks \u2013 it wouldn\u2019t have made a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were really<\/em> hoping for rain. We had a fresh set of wets ready, just waiting for the chance to surprise the field. But the rain never came.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Qualifying 1, I finished 19th, then managed to improve by one spot in Qualifying 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday\u2019s first race started poorly. We over-strategized for the rain and started from the pit lane. Since there was no rain, I went out on slicks behind the field, knowing there would be a Safety Car \u2013 and it did come. I caught back up and climbed from last to 17th overall, finishing 8th in GTX.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barely three hours later came Race 2. I even surprised myself \u2013 starting from 18th, I jumped up to 10th by Turn 1, thanks to others struggling with cold tyres and possibly some dirt on the track. I was running 4th in GTX at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Eight positions gained in one lap \u2013 but I couldn\u2019t hold it for long.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My short moment in the spotlight faded quickly. The others found their rhythm and picked me off one by one. On the straights, they just flew past me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I managed to hold 14th overall and 6th in GTX. Dennis Waszek was behind me \u2013 more than a minute back! Uncatchable? You\u2019d think so. But in his Lamborghini Hurac\u00e1n Super Trofeo, he gained 4\u20135 seconds per lap on me and caught up within the final 15 laps. He passed me on the final lap. I tried to defend, but I might as well have thrown ping pong balls at a tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All in all, I\u2019m just happy I made it to the first weekend. I earned some points \u2013 and I\u2019m not last! The car has come a long way, and we could be much more competitive on other tracks. I truly hope I was able to repay the trust of those who helped me get here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next round is in a month at the Lausitzring<\/strong>. I was surprisingly quick there in 2024, grabbing two third places in class. I know we\u2019d be even stronger this year. At the moment, we have only minimal funding for the rest of the season, so I can\u2019t say for sure whether I\u2019ll be on the grid at the next race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standings after the first round:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pos.<\/td>Name<\/td>Car<\/td>Points<\/td><\/tr>
1.<\/td>J\u00fcrgen Alzen<\/td>KTM X-BOW GT2<\/td>25<\/td><\/tr>
2.<\/td>Jack Russel<\/td>KTM X-BOW GT2<\/td>25<\/td><\/tr>
3.<\/td>Christian Wimberger<\/td>Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO<\/td>18<\/td><\/tr>
4.<\/td>Max Grip<\/td>KTM X-BOW GT2<\/td>15<\/td><\/tr>
5.<\/td>Dennis Waszek<\/td>Lamborghini Huracan SuperTropheo<\/td>12<\/td><\/tr>
6.<\/td>Viktor Mr\u00e1z<\/td>KTM X-BOW GT2<\/td>12<\/td><\/tr>
7.<\/td>Rupert Atzberger<\/td>KTM X-BOW GT2<\/td>10<\/td><\/tr>
8.<\/td>Marius Aigner<\/td>KTM X-BOW GT2<\/td>10<\/td><\/tr>
9.<\/td>Alexander Ober<\/td>Lamborghini Huracan GT3<\/td>8<\/td><\/tr>
10.<\/strong><\/td>G\u00e1bor Tim<\/strong><\/td>Lotus Exige V6<\/strong><\/td>6<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
11.<\/td>Antonin Herbeck<\/td>Pagani Zonda<\/td>1<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We scraped together the budget for the first race of the 2025 season at the very last moment. I want to thank everyone who made it possible for me to get back behind the wheel of a race car. Even though the weekend didn’t bring big results, it was still important for me to be […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15824,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102],"tags":[104,176,86,182,47],"class_list":["post-15849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","tag-english","tag-gtx","tag-hirek","tag-lotus-exige-v6","tag-red-bull-ring"],"yoast_head":"\nWe Started the Season Faster \u2013 But It Doesn\u2019t Show Yet - TimGabor.hu<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"We Started the Season Faster \u2013 But It Doesn\u2019t Show Yet - TimGabor.hu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We scraped together the budget for the first race of the 2025 season at the very last moment. I want to thank everyone who made it possible for me to get back behind the wheel of a race car. Even though the weekend didn’t bring big results, it was still important for me to be […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TimGabor.hu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-20T20:45:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-20T20:45:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/R1PF1082.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"emerico\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"emerico\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"emerico\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#\/schema\/person\/226226f5bdfe2a1cf1501afbb75ebd6a\"},\"headline\":\"We Started the Season Faster \u2013 But It Doesn\u2019t Show Yet\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-20T20:45:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-20T20:45:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/\"},\"wordCount\":789,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#\/schema\/person\/226226f5bdfe2a1cf1501afbb75ebd6a\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/R1PF1082.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"english\",\"GTX\",\"H\u00edrek \/ News\",\"Lotus Exige V6\",\"red bull ring\"],\"articleSection\":[\"English\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/\",\"name\":\"We Started the Season Faster \u2013 But It Doesn\u2019t Show Yet - TimGabor.hu\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/R1PF1082.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-20T20:45:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-20T20:45:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/R1PF1082.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/R1PF1082.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Kezd\u0151lap\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"We Started the Season Faster \u2013 But It Doesn\u2019t Show Yet\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/\",\"name\":\"TimGabor.hu\",\"description\":\"Tim G\u00e1bor hivatalos weboldala \/ H\u00e9tszeres bajnok aut\u00f3versenyz\u0151\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#\/schema\/person\/226226f5bdfe2a1cf1501afbb75ebd6a\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#\/schema\/person\/226226f5bdfe2a1cf1501afbb75ebd6a\",\"name\":\"emerico\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/timgabor2022-350x100-1.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/timgabor2022-350x100-1.svg\",\"width\":350,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"emerico\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/author\/emerico\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"We Started the Season Faster \u2013 But It Doesn\u2019t Show Yet - TimGabor.hu","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"We Started the Season Faster \u2013 But It Doesn\u2019t Show Yet - TimGabor.hu","og_description":"We scraped together the budget for the first race of the 2025 season at the very last moment. I want to thank everyone who made it possible for me to get back behind the wheel of a race car. Even though the weekend didn’t bring big results, it was still important for me to be […]","og_url":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/","og_site_name":"TimGabor.hu","article_published_time":"2025-05-20T20:45:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-20T20:45:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1280,"url":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/R1PF1082.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"emerico","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"emerico","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/"},"author":{"name":"emerico","@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#\/schema\/person\/226226f5bdfe2a1cf1501afbb75ebd6a"},"headline":"We Started the Season Faster \u2013 But It Doesn\u2019t Show Yet","datePublished":"2025-05-20T20:45:40+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-20T20:45:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/"},"wordCount":789,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#\/schema\/person\/226226f5bdfe2a1cf1501afbb75ebd6a"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/R1PF1082.jpg","keywords":["english","GTX","H\u00edrek \/ News","Lotus Exige V6","red bull ring"],"articleSection":["English"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/","url":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/","name":"We Started the Season Faster \u2013 But It Doesn\u2019t Show Yet - TimGabor.hu","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/R1PF1082.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-20T20:45:40+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-20T20:45:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/R1PF1082.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/R1PF1082.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/we-started-the-season-faster-but-it-doesnt-show-yet\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Kezd\u0151lap","item":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"We Started the Season Faster \u2013 But It Doesn\u2019t Show Yet"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/","name":"TimGabor.hu","description":"Tim G\u00e1bor hivatalos weboldala \/ H\u00e9tszeres bajnok aut\u00f3versenyz\u0151","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#\/schema\/person\/226226f5bdfe2a1cf1501afbb75ebd6a"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#\/schema\/person\/226226f5bdfe2a1cf1501afbb75ebd6a","name":"emerico","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/timgabor2022-350x100-1.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/timgabor2022-350x100-1.svg","width":350,"height":100,"caption":"emerico"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"url":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/author\/emerico\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15849"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15849"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15850,"href":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15849\/revisions\/15850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timgabor.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}