FSR World Championship Round 07, Hungary (Live Broadcast)

After a short summer break, FSR is back in action for Round 7, taking place at the Hungaroring. At the verge of the season half point, Bono Huis has stretched his championship lead over Morgan Morand into 60 points. Morand is certainly keen to strike back in his new team GhostSpeed Racing, as the Frenchman hasn’t won a race after the season opener despite being close to. At the Hungaroring, the teams are facing a couple of extra challenges, including the pit stop strategy. Read more about this in the full preview below.

To follow the FSR WC event live, tune in for Simrace.TV,  starting at 15:30 GMT. Read the full preview for the expert analysis and the betting tips for Sunday.

Track facts

Length: 4.381km
Race distance: 70 laps / 306.630km
Direction: clockwise
Number of corners: 14 (right: 8, left: 6)
Longest straight: 750 m
Full throttle: 58%
Tyre wear: Medium
Engine wear: Medium
Brake wear: Low
Downforce: High
Lap record (2003 layout): Roy Kolbe 1:16.348 (2009)

Previous winners

2011 Bono Huis
2010 Bono Huis
2009 Roy Kolbe
2008 Roy Kolbe
2007 Bruno Marques
2006 Bruno Marques
2005 Mark Aalberts
2004 Roy Kolbe
2003 Dominik Binz
2002 Joshua Lyon
2001 Roy Kolbe

Race analysis

The season half point approaches as FSR is back in action this weekend at Hungaroring. Reflecting on the beginning season, one might wonder whether the championship will progress in similar manner in the second season half?

I believe this season has a lot more excitement to offer. Morgan Morand recently switched teams to GhostSpeed and it seems the Frenchman’s pace has if possible even improved in his new team. Bono Huis obviously has a massive 60 point lead in the championship, but the races have been a lot closer than what the championship table suggests. I have no doubt that we will witness more epic fights between these two drivers, starting from Hungaroring this weekend.

How do you rank the possibilities of other teams/drivers to surprise in the remaining season?

At the moment, at least 7 drivers are fighting for the championship third place, and as we know, every place in the championship is gold worth in terms of the prize money. Fredrik Nilsson and Rasmus Tali are perhaps the most likely drivers to challenge for the random win. One should also not forget Jeffrey Rietveld, who recently switched teams to GT Omega Racing and already demonstrated brilliant pace at Silverstone.

Hungaroring is famous for providing somewhat stationary races in terms of overtaking, but the majority of drivers seem to fancy the circuit. What makes it special?

In the current calendar, there are few circuits that can be considered “drivers’ circuits”, but Hungaroring definitely is one of those. The main characteristic is the flowing nature of the track, as each corner naturally ties to the following one. This makes overtaking very difficult, but gives the driver a nice challenge. The key thing for the driver is maintaining a steady rhythm and having a well-balanced car, as even the slightest deviation from the ideal racing line will have a huge impact on lap time. Attacking the corner apexes is crucial, as a too wide entry will not only impact the current corner, but the next one as well.

In terms of drivers, are there any favourites for this type of track?

As has been said, Bono Huis masters any type of race track. Hungaroring has particularly suited the Dutch, as the Dutch took his first podium in 2009 on this very circuit and continued to win 2010 and 2011 events in style. Morgan Morand made the first big impression on this circuit last year, when he kept in close distance with Huis for the majority of the race until technical issues later on. The race will no doubt again be a battle between these two drivers, which could end either way. Fredrik Nilsson has not had the best experiences from this circuit, but the Swede will be a favourite for the podium, along with Jeffrey Rietveld.

With overtaking being difficult, which are the main deciders for Sunday’s race?

Track position will be more important than usual, as overtaking requires the car ahead to have worn tires or a significantly slower driver. The second big challenge will be the pit stop strategy, as the 2012 mod curiously suffers from heavy tire wear on these type of tracks. With anything from 3 to 5 stops being a possibility, this race should provide more strategic variance than the average. The high number of pit stops will put emphasis on pit stop timing and in- and outlaps, which each driver has to master in order to finish high on Sunday. A smooth driving style might well be the decider to allow one less pit stop, but as Fredrik Nilsson demonstrated in Silverstone, this strategy does not always work.

Finally, let’s see the top 10 guesstimates…

1. Morgan Morand

2. Bono Huis

3. Jeffrey Rietveld
4. Rasmus Tali
5. Fredrik Nilsson
6. Jim Parisis
7. Georgo Baldi
8. Mikko Puumalainen
9. John-Eric Saxén
10. Patrick De Wit

–JES –