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Rock solid fights adorned the second race of the Hankook RCM Cup on the Hungarian season opener BFR Driver Academy Cup weekend on the Hungaroring, where once again the main favorites clashed for victory. The atmosphere was still hot hours after the flag dropped and it became inevitable: the rivalry is 100% on from the very beginning of the season, and everyone is awfully motivated.

With the reverse grid on the second race the three fastest drivers started from the middle of the pack, Gábor Tim (Apex Racing) was eighth, Dániel Nagy (RCM Motorsport) was seventh, while Bálint Hatvani (Zsille Motorsport) was sixth on the grid. László Csuti (RCM) took the lead from poleman Zsolt Schiller (RCM) in the first corner, and kept it for six laps, when the big trio: Nagy, Tim and Hatvani quickly passed him.

The atmosphere remained quite peaceful between the title aspirants until the last but one lap, Nagy and Tim had skirmishes for the lead while Hatvani closed the gap to them. Fierce battle started in lap 13, and all hell came loose in the final round.Tim seriously missed the braking point in turn one, as he wanted to brake very late to stuck his nose beside Nagy. The RCM driver regained the lead, but it was far from over. In turn two Tim went to the inside and managed to stay there until turn three. Nagy and Tim went side by side and the latter left the track after T3. Nagy also lost some speed in the fight which let Hatvani take the lead.

The Zsille driver kept his rivals in the bay for the rest of the lap and won with a very small margin. Then came the icy shower for Hatvani; he got disqualified due to a silly mistake: he forgot to take on his fire-proof underwear before the race.

“On one hand the stewards were right, I did not have the underwear which is mandatory. I took it off because it was very hot, and we had a long photo session with the championship. I forgot to take it on in the hurry before the start. However, they checked it on the grid, and no one told me it deserves disqualification. Had they informed me then, I would have been able to take it on before the start. I am disappointed as my speed was good. In the last lap I knew there will be something between Nagy and Tim so I only concentrated on my lines to be as close as possible” – said Hatvani.

Officially race two was won by Dániel Nagy in front of Gábor Tim and László Csuti. The last lap incident was perceived quite differently by the parties. The podium ceremony was held in very tense atmosphere, and even hours after the race Nagy and Tim seemed quite angry with each other. Finally the “council” of RCM sat down to analyze the video footages which somewhat eased the situation, but some disagreement remained. “I was beside Dani in turn two and I think he should have left space for me in turn three, but he didn’t. I feel he forced me off the track which is illegal. I am disappointed as it was a great fight between us and I didn’t want to end it like this” – said Tim.

“Gábor was beside me in turn two and hold his position for the next corner, but I think I was much more ahead and it was a situation where he should have lifted off. Turn three is a very quick corner, and it is natural that the car goes to the outside, so I did not push him off deliberately.”

“Although we did not agree after watching the videos, we shook hands and said: life goes on, and the championship is still long” – said Nagy.

The Gentleman Cup was one by Zsolt Schiller after Gábor Kismarty was stopped by electrical problems, while Gábor Forrai did the double among the juniors.

RCMCup - András Lantos