The fourth event of the International GT Open Championship at the Hungaroring was a demanding weekend for Car Collection Motorsport. After a challenging race Saturday for the team, Gustav Bergstöm and Nico Menzel were able to climb onto the overall podium in second place on Sunday and thus achieve their best result of the season so far.
The demanding Formula 1 circuit near Budapest welcomed the team for the fourth race weekend of the International GT Open Championship.
Two one-hour races were on the programme. Team Car Collection took on this challenge with its three Porsche 911 GT3 Rs.
In the #7 Porsche, regular driver Bashar Mardini alternated this time with the Swede Emil Persson in the cockpit, who deputised for Tijmen van der Helm, who was unable to drive. Persson was driving a GT3 racing car for the first time and initially had to get used to the unfamiliar conditions on the difficult track in partly wet conditions. Over the course of the weekend, he was able to improve significantly and, together with his partner Mardini, finished 10th in the PROAM class in Saturday’s race. On Sunday, the pair finished in 14th place.
Alex Fontana and “Hash” drove the number 12 Porsche as usual, with Fontana putting in a great performance in wet conditions on Saturday to put the car in a good sixth place on the grid, which equated to third place in the class. In a difficult first race, the pair crossed the finish line in 13th place. On Sunday, the duo made up a lot of ground from 16th on the grid and crossed the finish line in 10th place. Newcomer “Hash” was able to steadily improve and further reduce the gap to the top drivers.
The top car from the Car Collection Motorsport team with starting number 15 was again driven by Gustav Bergström and Porsche driver Nico Menzel. Bergström finished 11th on the grid in qualifying on Saturday. In a turbulent race, both drivers made up several positions and were in eighth place at the drop of the chequered flag. On Sunday, Nico Menzel managed fifth place in qualifying. The experienced Porsche driver made up two positions right at the start. After an excellent pit stop by the Car Collection team, Bergström returned to the track in second place overall and was able to defend this position against the strong competition, some of which consisted of highly paid works drivers. These important points enabled the duo to make up for the weekend without points in Spa and are now in ninth place overall after seven races, but still within reach of the top positions.
Peter Schmidt, Team Principal: “That was a very demanding weekend for us, which ended well with Gustav and Nico finishing second. The Hungaroring is always a challenge and it’s difficult to overtake here. Added to this were the sometimes wet conditions, which made it even more difficult for our newcomers to the series. However, all the drivers did a good job, the team gave everything as always and the podium finish was a well-deserved reward.”
