Returning Zengő Motorsport driver Dániel Nagy believes that top ten finishes are possible in the 2017 World Touring Car Championship, despite running an older-spec Honda Civic in the coming season.
Nagy was earlier this month confirmed as the Hungarian team’s second driver, alongside Frenchman Aurélien Panis. The 18-year-old will thus begin his second season in the WTCC, and his first full campaign, after joining the grid from Portugal onwards last year.
The Hungarian edged out 2016 team-mate Ferenc Ficza for the drive this year, something which he believes was down to getting up to speed quickly in the second half of last season.
“It felt amazing when I heard the decision,” said Nagy. “I started my preparations early for this year hoping I would be the second driver. And when I finally got the call that I would be driving for the full season I was so pleased.
“I prepared well for every weekend last season, just like my team-mate Ferenc did, but maybe the key was that I could get up to his speed a bit faster. And Zoltán [Zengő] said he wanted to give me a bit more of a chance to show my real skills this year.”
Nagy’s best finish in his first ten WTCC races was an 11th place in the Opening Race in Qatar – and he is hoping to go even better in 2017 with points finishes being his objective.
“I believe we can continue the progress we had last year and score some top ten finishes. And maybe the rain comes and something happens with the other guys we can score some bigger results.
“We are competing with the older-specification Honda so it’s going to be a bit hard for me but we have very good mechanics, very good engineers, very good equipment and the very, very important thing is the Zengő Motorsport guys are believing in me and believing in this project.”