12H Hungaroring – Race Report
Harmadik Kiadás (Third Edition) The third edition of the 12 Hours of Hungary got underway this (Saturday) morning. This is the baby brother of the Dubai 24 Hours. Both are sanctioned by the Creventic group. Thus far they have been the only rounds of an anticipated full-scale 24 Hour Series, seemingly always off in the future. The “series” is open to a mix of GT and Touring cars. The Magyar event has been a mixed bag. The first edition of this race, in 2008, had a mere 17 starters and was won by the Schubert Motorsport BMW Z4. The team repeated the feat last year but against a much larger and far more international field. The entry has remained international in scope for 2010 but the numbers are back down. The size of the provisional list kept dropping over the past few weeks from almost 50 to about 30 a few days ago. A spate of last minute cancellations brought the starting grid down to 23. That total roughly matches the number of spectators rattling around the huge Autodrome - no exaggeration either. You may recall that at the Hungaroring 1000 Km in August the temperature was well into the 30s. Fortunately, it’s gotten decidedly cooler since then. The weekend has been blessed with full sunshine and a very autumnal 10-11 degrees during the day, dropping to near freezing at dawn. Three of the five classes are reserved for Touring Cars of various capacities. A2 is for under two-liter and under 1.6 turbos, A3T for larger turbos, and D2 for small capacity diesels. SP2 is for “24 Hour Specials” (kind of catch-all really) while A6 encompasses the premier group of GTs. Creventic often consolidates classes and shifts cars from one class to another as part of a de facto balance of performance program. Thus the Saker (diesel) prototype has been moved from SP2 to A3T as it proved too slow in the former category. Creventic is quite an “innovator” when it comes to unusual rules. They pioneered the purple flag type neutralization. Instead of a full-course yellow, a “Code 60” is declared and the competitors are held to a maximum of 60 kph and are prohibited from passing—all without the aid of a pace car. They’ve added an unusual balance of performance for this event, not quite a la Ratel though. There are three components to the system. They apply only to the A6 class with the goal of balancing the Cup and (lone) RSR versions of the Porsche as well as the non-Porsches in the class. The rules have three components. First the pole winner is saddled with 20 kilos of ballast. Then the cars have varying levels of fuel capacities, larger for the 3.6-liter Porsches and less for the quicker cars. Lastly there is a “breakout” system. The quicker cars in A6 are assigned a reference lap time. It is either the qualifying time or a faster time of the team’s preference. Then they have up to four laps during the course of the race to go better than that. Each time they are presented with a joker card and on the fifth joker they have to take a stop-and-go penalty. (After all that explanation, no one has been thus penalized). The 8-car A6 class consists of Budapest’s own one-off Porsche powered Brokernet Silver Sting. Owner Kálmán Bodis is joined by very quick Hungarian István Rácz, Piranha Kaufmann, and the only American driver here, Grand-Am regular Tom Nastasi. Lechner Racing has a works-supported GT3 spec Audi R8 LMS for Niki Mayer-Melnhof, Thomas Gruber, Philip König, and Walter Lechner, Jr. Swedish team Westcoast Racing has a Z4 GT3 with long time sports car veteran Stanley Dickens as the lead driver. Confusingly, one of the Porsche Cup cars is entered by Finland’s Westend Racing. Other Porsche Cup entries are here for ARC Bratislava (long-time DSC favorite Mauro Casadei aboard) and Lammertink Racing (led by Tom Coronel). There is only one RSR type here, Paul Daniels’ JWA Automotive entry with Robert Bell as lead driver. Hong Kong star Darryl O’Young was the co-driver and he won the pole position, bringing home the 20 kilo “trophy.” The Lechner Audi may have been quicker, but they appeared to have sandbagged a bit in qualifying to avoid the additional penalty. Two Renault Clios, a Mini, and a Ford Fiesta are in the A2 class. In addition to the Saker diesel, A3T includes a pretty but slow Lotus Exige, two BMWs, a Seat, and a Golf entered by Konrad Motorsports (no, not that Konrad). One of the BMS is entered by Intersport (no, not that Intersport). D2 has but two BMWs and a Golf, the latter co-driven by Dirk Müller (no, not that Dirk Müller). SP2 consists of an eclectic trio, a Multimatic built GT3 class Ford Mustang, a very pristine Corvette, and the original GT type Audi R8, a two-off home built design by race organizer Creventic. Rob Bell (yes, that Rob Bell) was passed by Mayer-Melnhof soon after the start, thanks in part to the Audi’s ABS. A few turns later the Porsche retook the spot. The two had a spirited battle for about 20 minutes before Bell took the Audi under braking and pulled away. The Brokernet fell back with a balky gearbox while Coronel had a broken u-joint on the Lammertink Porsche. Back in the classes the Intersport BMW sheared a bolt in the transmission and later the engine blew. The team had come straight from last weekend’s Silverstone 24 Hours and residual damage from a shunt there led to a cascade of problems. The Lammertink entry was repaired but a holed piston led to a small fire while Takayuki Kinoshita was driving. The incident brought out a brief full-course purple, the only such interruption of the day. The humble little Endurance Club Hungary Ford Fiesta lost about an hour with transaxle repairs and returned only to crash with the Kaas Team Mini. The uprights were damaged on the BMW-badged pseudo-English car and the team scoured Budapest dealers for spares. Several local journos, including Geza Surányi, made a bunch of calls and the parts arrived, handing the Danish team a walking wounded finish. The Ford has one of the more unusual driving lineups here. Fifteen year-old Ferenc Ficza is on his third (no misprint) Hungaroring 12 Hours. He’s a grizzled veteran compared to co-driver Benedek Major. He claims to be 14 but doesn’t look a day over 11—sort of like those Chinese gymnasts. Of course, this makes him a Minor Major. Only at a Creventic race . . . The JWA Porsche and the Audi remained on the lead lap with the Westcoast BMW either at the rear of that tour or just a tad further back. There was drama in the fourth hour when the clutch broke on O’Young’s Porsche. The JWA entry was pushed into retirement. The Audi might have been expected to run away with it, but the refueling rules have benefited the Westcoast BMW. Dickens and co-drivers Lars Stugemo, Magnus Ohman, and Richard Goransson kept within shouting distance. Although they could not match the Audi on lap times, they edged ahead during the various stop sequences. In the other GT-ish class, the VDS Mustang of Jose Close and Raphael van der Straaten edged ahead. An earlier challenge by the “Ed Nicelife” / Bolesalv Waszek / Arno Klasen Corvette has faded when the Chevrolet hit a series of minor snags. The race at the top is far more fluid than one would expect. The Audi is capable of lapping two seconds quicker than the Westcoast BMW (hey, wait a minute, Sweden doesn’t have a West Coast?!). The BMW’s fuel advantage plus a longish stop for a pad change on the Audi has kept them on the same lap with the lead swapping during stops. Third is being contested between the Brokernet and the Westend Porsche (not to be confused with the Westcoast BMW). The pukka Porsche gained after István Rácz fell afoul of another strange rule and was penalized a minute. Cars run a gauntlet through the pits. They enter on a 40 kph rev limiter, then get non-fuel servicing at their normal box. After that they progress to a dedicated fueling area. Along the way they pass over a weighbridge with a 20 kph speed limit. A slip of the clutch can easily top that. The fueling area is a scene of some chaos. There are pool personnel there available to all the teams but the regular crew can also join in the fun. This makes for episodes where troupes of crew members trail their mount from the boxes to the petrol station and actually pass the car at the weighbridge. It’s a crowded area and there was an accident there earlier. A crew member for the VDS Mustang suffered a broken leg when clipped by a passing car. The SP2 contest heated up again in the (very) cool of the night. Although the Corvette had fallen well down the order, the Creventic built Audi took the lead (narrowly) over the Mustang. Perennial A2 winners, BMW Team Hungary, have their 120d well into the class lead from a surprisingly strong 8th overall. The Saker may have been too slow for SP2, but are maybe too fast for A3T—leaving others in the dust. At the 7:30 hour mark (19:30 local time) came the next set of dramas. Westcoast’s alternator mount went south and damaged various ancillary bits on the way out. They’re done and the Bovi Silverthing took over 2nd place, some eight laps behind the Lechner juggernaut. Game, set, match unless the Audi burps. It didn’t. Robert Lechner called the car in for a cautionary brake pad change. This came via an interview by Rene de Boer. Rene noted that when Lechner told him this, the Audi man in the background cringed—what could possibly go wrong with an Audi?  |
Speaking of Audis, the homemade version has pretty much clinched SP2. This came at the expense of the Mustang which broke a suspension almost exactly at start/finish and had to crawl all the way around. The faux-Audi (Faudi?) survived a slight fire in the refueling area and was pushed back to its box for evaluation and repairs. It is 11 laps clear of the second in class Corvette and can afford the time. If you’re wondering how it was allowed to be pushed backwards, remember that it’s the organizer’s entry. Creventic has been known to bend the rules. Earlier one of the Spanish Monlau team’s touring cars was getting major service as in a wheel rebuild on pit row. The A3T class stayed in play to the end with the very steady but anonymous Monlou Competicion Seat Leon Supercopa edging ahead of the Saker and the only surviving team from that little insignificant island (or is it a large American aircraft carrier?) somewhere off the coast of Normandy, Guy Povey’s BMW. JW’s grading: kind of ok, needs spice. British patriots’ view of JW’s attitude: unprintable. Janos Wimpffen Race result: 1 2 Lechner Racing AUT Audi R8 LMS A6 12:01:33,646 355 laps 1:51.119
2 1 Bovi Motorsport 1 HUN Brokernet Silver Sting A6 348 Laps 1:52.671
3 6 Westend Racing FIN Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S A6 346 Laps 1:52.213
4 12 ARC Bratislava SVK Porsche 997 Cup A6 338 Laps 1:56.442
5 3 BMW Team Hungary HUN BMW 120D D2 325 Laps 2:01.968
6 26 Monlau Competicion 2 ESP Seat Leon Super Copa A3T 325 laps 1:59.393
7 88 Red Camel Racing 1 NED Audi R8 SP2 321 Laps 1:57.659
8 57 Team Jordans.nl NED Saker Sportscar GT TDI A3T 320 Laps 2:01.407
9 30 Povey Motorsport ENG BMW M3 E46 A3T 314 Laps 2:05.016
10 61 Gmaxx Racing GER Chevrolet Corvette SP2 312 Laps 1:57.747
11 47 VSI Kauno Sporto Klubas 'RIMO' LTU BMW 335 D D2 311 Laps 2:06.118
12 28 KONRAD-Motorsport GER Volkswagen Golf V Gti A3T 311 Laps 2:04.697
13 58 VDS Racing Adventure BEL Ford Mustang SP2 308 Laps 1:56.448
14 41 Team Sally Racing DEN Renault Clio 3 A2 307 Laps 2:08.813
15 29 Alerant Endurance Team HUN Lotus Exige 260 Cup A3T 296 Laps 2:03.777
16 36 Monlau Competicion 1 ESP Renault Clio Cup A2 293 Laps 2:08.893
17 46 TTC-Racing SUI Volkswagen Golf 4 D2 276 Laps 2:17.384
18 37 Endurance Club Hungary HUN Ford Fiesta A2 262 Laps 2:10.407
19 7 Westcoast Racing SWE BMW Z4 GT3 A6 254 Laps 1:50.325
20 35 Stefan Kaas Racing Team DEN BMW Mini Challenge A2 230 Laps 2:11.518
21 55 JWA Racing ENG Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (997) A6 88 Laps 1:50.414
22 4 Lammertink Racing with Toyo Tires NED Porsche 997 GT3 CUP A6 65 Laps 1:54.688
23 32 Intersport Racing ENG BMW E46 M3 A3T 36 Laps 1:59.246 Fastest lap: 1:50.325 on lap 152 by 7 Westcoast Racing All images © Creventic | 
