Round three of the 2017 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters championship sees the 18 drivers and three brands make their first trip away from German soil, as the 4.381-km Hungaroring circuit sets the backdrop for what will be another great weekend of racing.
The circuit, which will also have the TCR International Series racing there as part of the support bill, has appeared on the calendar just four times over the last 30 years, with last season providing a exciting turn of events for the fans in attendance.
Lucas Auer is the man out in front in his Team BWT Mercedes C63 AMG Coupé, having been only one of two winners so far this year, with nearest rival Jamie Green being the other.
Gary Paffett has also had his best start to a respective campaign since his 2012 efforts, as the Briton is currently third in the standings, whilst it’s not been easy for defending champion Marco Wittmann and the BMW ranks.
The Team RMG driver is in 11th overall, with team mate Timo Glock the best of the Munich contingent three places ahead.
BMW, however, have had their fair share of difficulties over the past four races, having only taken a total of 64 points, whilst Mercedes and Audi are over 100 points ahead.
Further sporting regulations changes have now been announced ahead of this weekend, with a change being made towards the performance weights this time.
Instead of basing this on the results in qualifying, the weights will be determined on average times over a 28-lap distance during each race, apart from the Norising, which will be determined over 48 laps.
This was made on the basis of the new Hankook control tyre and other factors not making any more impact on qualifying, following what occurred at both the first two rounds of the season.
“This is a fine-tuning measure that the manufacturers and the DMSB have agreed upon in mutual consent and with a sense of proportion,” stated ITR chairman Gerhard Berger.
“We want to deliver races for the fans that are thrilling and can’t be predicted. The course of the action at Hockenheim and at the Lausitzring went into the right direction. The fine-tuning that has now been put in place should bring us another step closer to achieving our goal.”
This will add to the dynamic that ITR have been trying to add, via this particular regulation, which has been in use since 2015, but it’s still all to play for this coming weekend.
Weekend Schedule (All times CET (BST + 1))
Friday, June 16th
1700 – FP1 – 30 minutes
Saturday, June 17th
0940 – FP2 – 30 minutes
1140 – Qualifying for Race one – 20 minutes
1448 – Race one – 55 minutes plus 1 lap, including mandatory pitstop.
Sunday, June 18th
1000 – FP3 – 30 minutes
1200 – Qualifying for Race two – 20 minutes
1518 – Race two – 55 minutes plus 1 lap, including mandatory pitstop