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Well, not the way we would first want it – none of the big manufacturers singed the first and second placed driver of the 2014 RCM Cup season - but they received an opportunity to get very close to the German TouringCar Championship for a weekend. The drivers of Apex Racing and Zsille Motorsport respectively were the VIP guests of the championship’s tire supplier, Hankook, in the DTM season finale in Hockenheim, which was one of the official prizes of the Cup.

The RCM Cup team arrived in Germany Saturday evening in order to be on the track as early as possible on Sunday morning. First they visited the spectacular VIP headquarters of Hankook, where they were greeted with warm welcome. After getting to know everyone there the guys set out for a stroll in the packed DTM paddock. Gábor really wanted to meet a few of his idol drivers, while Bálint, being an enthusiastic fan of BMW was more interested in any car wearing the emblem of the Bavarian firm.

Half an hour before the start the RCM Cup frontrunners could visit the DTM grid which turned out to be one of the most interesting parts of their adventure. After taking several pictures and closely following the starting procedure Tim and Hatvani took their seats in the legendary Arena stand and watched the whole race there. Later they returned to the Hankook building to be as close to the podium ceremony as possible.

As a cool-down Gábor and Bálint enjoyed a few laps with the BMW simulator. We asked them to share their experiences with the official site of RCM Cup.Gábor Tim:
“Well, where to start… I have never ever seen so many people gathering for a motorsport event. The paddock and the parking areas were completely full. You see pompous, tall, high-tech glass buildings everywhere. On the grid each driver was surrounded by hordes of people but I was lucky enough to take a picture with Matthias Ekström, which was a real dream come true. We followed the race from the Arena section, which is just incredible. The roar of the engine bounces back from the stands and creates a unique atmosphere. I am very grateful to Hankook for this experience.”
Bálint Hatvani:
“I am also very grateful for this opportunity as I think DTM is one of the best championships on the world. Technically it is better than WTCC, and the level of organization and the audience is also on par with the world championship. The paddock is gorgeous with those high glass motorhomes, or should I call them glass-palaces. We were lucky as Hankook had the most beautiful of them all. The race was also spectacular. We had our seat at the Sachs turn, and had a marvelous view of the Arena section. I think 80% of the overtakes happened just in front of our eyes. I love this championship, you need to be clever with the tactics, and hard in wheel-to-wheel battles. Big thanks to Hankook and RCM Motorsport for this prize, I feel my batteries are recharged by these experiences.”

RCMCup - András Lantos