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Those who turned up on Saturday morning around nine o’clock at the BFR Driver Academy Cup on the Hungaroring, were probably sure the first Hankook RCM Cup race starting at 11:50 will be run under rain. But it did not happen... The rain soon stopped, and water quickly disappeared from the asphalt.

As a result differences decreased significantly between the drivers, and a close fight developed have developed in the 30 minutes plus one lap race. Dániel Nagy (RCM Motorsport) started from pole position and kept the lead until the Mansell corner, where he almost slipped out of the track with his RCM Swift Racer. Gábor Tim (Apex Racing) was there to take advantage of the opportunity, first escaped the collision, then took the lead.

Frankly speaking there was not much happening in the leading group afterwards, the order of the first four was formed after the fourth turn. Still, there was plenty of excitement, as the gap between Nagy and Tim never went over one and a half seconds. On the last part of the track, however, the 2011 champion was quicker, so the defending champion was unable to overtake him at the end of the start-finish line. Eventually, Tim won the race, which ended a very long waiting period."We finally broke the curse, and I was able to win at the Hungaroring on dry! I was lucky to avoid a collision in the first lap with Dani. From there on I could built a small advantage. I had to be on the limit tough till the flag as they were always very close behind. It is a very competitive field, and I think the fight for the title will be quite hot. Starting from P8 it will be difficult to be on the podium tomorrow" – Tim said after the race.

Dani Nagy started his title defending year with a second place, and it shows the strength of the championship that one single mistake was enough to lose a victory.

"In the Mansell turn the rear of my car went 90 degrees under braking, it's a miracle that Gabi was able to avoid me. I was not completely satisfied with the behavior of the car, but the guys changed all four dampers, and now I hope we can finally eliminate the problem" - said Dani.

Behind the two former champions Bálint Hatvani (Zsille Motorsport) came home third and he almost copy-pasted his performance from qualifying: he found his rhythm towards the end. He was only three tenth behind Dániel Nagy in the last lap, but was unable to overtake him.

"It has been quite a time since I last experienced a race like this, where I had to fight for every bit of centimeter. I could gradually go better and better and found a good rhythm towards the end. Generally I am satisfied, as my aim was to keep the car unharmed and be on the podium” – said Hatvani.Attila Tassi, who is still only 14 years-old ended up fourth this time, but he was much closer to the first three than in qualifying. As a real sportsman he analyzed his performance with a pinch of self-criticism.

"I was trying to go with the trio in front of me, but it did not really work out, because I overused the tires. With hindsight I should have raced quite differently. Tomorrow I'll try to put this together, because I feel I could have been in the top3 today"- said Tassi.

Behind the first four fierce battles raged for the points including László Csuti (RCM Motorsport), Gábor Kismarty (Zengő Motorsport) and Zoltán Lévai (Apex Racing). The driver of Zengő eventually clinched the Gentleman Trophy victory ahead of Zsolt Schiller."I really enjoyed the race, we had fierce fights around fifth and sixth place. It is enjoyable that everyone has the same car, so it all depends on how good you are in the corners. Tomorrow I will start in third place and Zoltán Lévai will stand beside me so we can continue our match" - said Kismarty.

After a hot fight Gábor Forrai (Apex Racing) won the Rookie Cup in front of Bence Pusztay (Zengő Motorsport) and Balázs Takács (Zsille Motorsport)."I was not quick enough to go with the frontrunners, but I won the rookie cup which is a good sign. This year I want to learn racing craft, and I would like to get closer to the front by the end of the season. I just need to collect kilometers and experiences" - concluded Forrai after the race.

The program of the Hankook RCM Cup continues at 12:25 on Sunday with a ten-minute warm-up while race two starts at 15:00.

RCMCup - András Lantos