There is great expectation ahead of the fourth round of the 2025 International GT Open: on one side, the traditional visit to the Hungaroring and nearby Budapest is always one of the nicest stops in the calendar; on the other, there are different reasons to make this year’s visit special.
The Hungaroring has undergone a thorough revamp in the last year, and the International GT Open will be the series inaugurating the new premises, one month before the F.1 Grand Prix. The 4.381 km layout of the very technical track in the Gödöllő hills hasn’t changed, but all the premises of the first modern circuit built in the mid-80s in the then Eastern Europe, have been torn down and new boxes, building, tower, hospitality, and fan zones have been built. It’s a state-of-the-art rebuilding that propels the Hungaroring into a new era of its history.
In addition, this round will have a special meaning for the International GT Open community. Race 2 on Sunday will be the 300th race of the series, and the milestone, which will be duly marked, is hit in what is the twentieth edition of the championship.
A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY …
The very first GT Open race took place in Monza on April 1st 2006 … and wasn’t a Fool’s Day joke. It was won by the Dodge Viper of the Italian squad Racing Box entrusted to Andrea Belicchi and Stefano Zonca.
The Hungaroring already hosted a special race, the 100th, in 2012, won by the Villois Racing Aston Martin of Álvaro Barba and Matteo Malucelli, while the 200th, occurred in 2019, was held at the Red Bull Ring and won by another Aston Martin, driven by Ollie Wilkinson and Johnny Adam, in what was Optimum Motorsport’s maiden overall success in the series.
“Time flies, maybe even faster than race cars!” says Jesús Pareja, CEO of GT Sport, “and it’s hard to believe that we are reaching 300 races. It makes us proud of what we have achieved and because it means that our proposition has worked, but also humble because you can never stop working and improving to keep the trust of contenders, partners, and fans, to whom I want to express our gratitude for their continued support.”
PRO: LEVENTE RÉVÉSZ GETS TO HOME RACE AS STANDINGS LEADER
Looking at the present, Hungarian fans, who always flock in numbers at this event, will have another good reason to do so this year. It is a Magyar driver, Levente Révész, leading the overall standings. The 20-year-old from Budapest has made a successful switch from single-seaters to GT3s, and is on top of the standings at the wheel of the Team Motopark Mercedes AMG, having taken so far two wins, with two different teammates, Matteo Cairoli and Maximilian Götz, hence his status of solo leader. The German will again be is partner in Hungary.
The fight at the top remains very tight, as only 2 points separate the top from the second, who are no other than reigning champions Simon Reicher and Christopher Haase in the Eastalent Racing Audi that has so far taken four second spots and is eager to net its first win of the season. Further back, 23 points behind are Mike Porter and Zak Meakin, the pair of young guns in the Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S.
In fourth place, Anthony Bartone and Fabian Schiller are charging in the leading Mercedes AMG of GetSpeed, with the German squad also fielding Marcelo Ramírez-Ralf Aron. The Mercedes camp in the class is strong of two other competitive, with Robert Visoiu-Niklas Krütten driving the second Motopark car, and BDR Grupo Prom entering Luis M.Dörrbecker-Amaury Bonduel.
Three Ferrari are entered in Pro. AF Corse fields young guns Carl Bennett and Tommaso Mosca, while talented young pair, Tom Emson and Tom Lebbon, are entered by Elite Motorsport and have already reached the podium twice. Experts Luca Ludwig and Andrea Montermini, on their side, drive the 488 of Mertel Motorsport.
Young talent is also to be found at the wheel of the McLaren 720S of Greystone GT, with James Kell-Dean Macdonald eager to find again the great form shown at the start of the season.
Oregon Team is the Lamborghini representative in the class, with Artem Petrov-Antoine Doquin and Filip Ugran-Robert Rogalski.
PRO-AM: TWO MERCEDES WITHIN THREE POINTS
The fight is close also at the top of the Pro-Am class, which currently sees two Mercedes AMG separated by only 3 points. Valentin Pierburg and Dominik Baumann lead in the SPS automotive performance car, ahead of Steve Jans-Aaron Walker in one of the GetSpeed AMGs, who have clinched two wins, one more than the leaders.
With one success, the Porsche 911 R by Car Collection Motorsport driven by ‘Hash’ and Alex Fontana has been a regular front-runner and lies third in the standings.
Only one point behind is the Audi R8 LMS of ISR Racing, with Libor Milota and Filip Salaquarda. The Czech team is having a very consistent season, with one win so far, and for this event, which is the closest to their home base, they will field a second car for Jirko and Chrisitan Malchárek, the Slovak father-and-son pair.
There will be no less than four Audis competing in the class. Olimp Racing fields the always fast pair composed of Marcin Jedlinski-Karol Basz, while at Saintéloc Racing, Michaël Blanchemain is back alongside Marcus Påverud.
The Mercedes camp can rely on Heiko Neumann-Lukas Dunner, the solid pair of Motopark, while SPS automotive performance has a second strong card in its game with Dexter Müller-Yannick Mettler.
The Ferrari representation is in the hands of AF Corse, with Laurent De Meeus-Vincent Abril, and of Baron Motorsport, in its second outing with Masoud Jaberian-Edoardo Bacci.
The other Porsche entered in the class is Tsunami RT car of Johannes Zelger-Fabio Babini.
The great novelty at the Hungaroring will be the participation of a BMW M4 GT3 EVO II, entered by Slovakia’s Racing Trevor, who has been a regular visitor to the GT Open in the past, entrusted to Antal Zsigo and BMW factory driver Max Hesse.
AM: SANSOM IN THE LEAD
No less close and interesting is the battle at the top of the Am class, where at the moment Mark Sansom has a 4-point lead. The Brit has taken three successes so far at the wheel of the Garage 59 McLaren 720S. Two were signed together with GT Open legend Miguel Ramos, and one with Sweden’s Alexander West, who will be again at the wheel in Hungary.
A close second is the AF Corse Ferrari of Gino Forgione and Michele Rugolo, who took two wins so far, while are also in contention for podium honours Stanislaw Jedlinski and Krystian Korzeniowski in the Olimp Racing Ferrari 296, and Mexico’s Alfredo Hernández, in the BDR Grupo Prom Mercedes that he drives alone.
Athe Hungaroring, Magyar fans will have the opportunity to enjoy a very comprehensive race programme, which includes the GT Sport-promoted Euroformula Open (with the new Dallara 324s powered by Tom’s), the Porsche Cup Benelux, and more single-seater action, with the FRECA and the GB3.
