HUNGARORING (2 October, 2021) – Herberth Motorsport currently leads the 2021 Hankook 12H HUNGARY after a frenetic opening two hours.  

The Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (#91, Daniel Allemann / Ralf Bohn / Alfred Renauer) is one of three different GT cars to have led the Hankook 12H HUNGARY outright thus far, despite losing time with a collision at the very start of the event. The MP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#58, Thomas Gostner / David Gostner / Corinna Gostner), which made a strong start from 3rd on the grid, was alongside both Herberth Porsches heading into turn one only to slide wide into the #91 911. Despite damage to the bodywork, Ralf Bohn was quickly back up to speed, first moving past the sister Herberth #92 for 2nd and then the fast-starting CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#85, Charles Putman / Charles Espenlaub / Joe Foster / Shane Lewis) to head the field.

Pitting for fuel under the event’s first Code 60 though meant the #91 Herberth lost track position and had to work its way to the front all over again. Bohn’s efforts were aided considerably when the CP Racing Mercedes ran wide at turn five, this rare error from Charles Espenlaub allowing the Porsche back through into the lead where it has remained since. 

Across the opening two hours, 63 laps of the 4.381km Hungaroring have already been completed. 

“My wish was a first clear corner, and as you saw, it went otherwise,” Ralf Bohn explained to radiolemans.com’s Lukas Gajewski. “I had a little problem on the rear and then I started saving fuel, but it’s all good. We’re not sure exactly who will start tomorrow, but my wish will be exactly the same: first corner that is clear.”

The Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS EVO2 (#500, Martin Rump / Martin Lechmann / Nathanaël Berthon), making its second start in the 24H SERIES following last month’s Hankook 24H BARCELONA, currently lies 2nd. The second evolution Evo made a scintillating start to jump from 11th on the grid to 4th into turn one, and was even harrying Herberth Motorsport for the overall lead in the early stages. Across the line, the Audi was just four seconds adrift. CP Racing still holds 3rd.  

The second Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (#92, Jürgen Häring / Bobby Gonzales / Marco Seefried / Daniel Allemann) secured the Bavarian team’s third pole position of the season earlier this afternoon, but has since slipped to 4th after a fighting drive with its rivals. In an impressive display of teamwork, the lead #91 Porsche dropped nearly 15s per lap off the pace during the final tour to keep its sister #92 on the lead lap for tomorrow’s restart. The Rutronik Racing by TECE Audi R8 LMS GT3 meanwhile (#18, Michael Doppelmayr / Pierre Kaffer / Swen Herberger) rounds out the overall top five after a quiet run.

A BMW M6 GT3 is competing in the 24H SERIES for the very first time this weekend at the Hungaroring courtesy of JR Motorsport (#2, Ted van Vliet / Ruud Olij / Bas Schouten), and is running a solid 6th just ahead of the BMW M4 of GT4-class leader, ST Racing (#438, Samantha Tan / Chandler Hull / Jon Miller). Having avoided significant damage from its early contact, MP Racing is now 7th, and in spite of an off-track moment for Fabrizio Broggi and a fleeting glance against the barriers, 991-class leader Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (#955, Fabrizio Broggi / Sergiu Nicolae / Sabino de Castro) is 9th overall.  

Despite falling out of the overall top 10 during the pit stops, the RD Signs racing team Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo (#720, Audrius Butkevicius / Nicola Michelon / Paulius Paskevicius) leads GTX on its return to the 24H SERIES. Its nearest rival meanwhile – the Vortex V8 Vortex 1.0 (#701, Philippe Bonnel / Gilles Courtois / Nicolas Nobs) – has already lost an hour in the pits to an electrical issue. 

After a flurry of TCE pit stops on the approach to the overnight intervention, the Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR DSG (#1, Constantin Kletzer / Lukasz Stolarcyk / Emil Heyerdahl / Fabian Danz) now leads the division, albeit by just 90s from its sister Volkswagen (#112, Miloš Pavlović / Christoph Lenz / Jasmin Preisig / Emil Heyerdahl). The former also secured TCE pole position earlier this afternoon. 

Long-time leader Red Camel-Jordans.nl (#101, Ivo Breukers / Luc Breukers / Rik Breukers), which is running an Audi RS 3 LMS this weekend for the first time, is currently 3rd in-class ahead of championship rival, and fellow Audi runner, AC Motorsport (#188, Stéphane Perrin / Mathieu Detry). Impressively, all four TCR entrants will take tomorrow’s restart on the same lap. 

After a solid run, the Munckhof Racing BMW M4 GTR (#210, Eric van den Munckhof / Marco Poland) lies 5th. 

After the event’s overnight intervention, the 2021 Hankook 12H HUNGARY will resume tomorrow at 08.30 hrs local time, and will run uninterrupted until the chequered flag is flown at 18.30 hrs later that evening. The action will be live with commentary from radiolemans.com on the official 24H SERIES YouTube channel. Regular updates will also be published on Twitter (@24HSeries), Facebook (24H Series) and Instagram (24H Series). Further information can be found HERE