Giorgio Pantano to make his debut
The winner of three out of four races so far, Jonathan Hirschi (TDS
Racing), in Budapest, will have to contend both with the return of
Dimitri Enjalbert (Thierry Boutsen Energy Racing), who will be determined
to make up lost ground, and the arrival on the scene of Giorgio Pantano
(Oregon Team). The Italian will be starting over from scratch in the
Eurocup Megane Trophy, but he should have what it takes to rapidly
trouble the leaders.
Winner of the GP2 Series in 2008 and a Jordan F1 driver in 2004, Giorgio
Pantano will make his Eurocup Megane Trophy debut at the Hungaroring. A
seasoned driver in single-seaters, his experience in touring cars is
limited to having taken part in one GT event last season. The Italian had
his first taste of the New Megane Trophy a few weeks ago at a testing
session organized by the Oregon Team. So, everything is now set for him
to make his entry in style in Hungary. Giorgio Pantano will also be
taking part in the events at Silverstone and Le Mans. Having the chance
to measure their abilities against a driver with the pedigree of Giorgio
Pantano will be an interesting challenge for all the Eurocup Megane
Trophy drivers. For Jonathan Hirschi, who currently leads the category,
twenty points clear of Mike Verschuur (McGregor by Equipe Verschuur), the
main objective will be to further strengthen his position at the
Hungarian round of the World Series by Renault. With three wins and one
second place in four races, the Swiss driver has, within the space of
just a few weeks, moved from being an outsider to being the man to beat.
He can count on the experience of TDS Racing to help him achieve what
must now clearly be his objective for the season: The Drivers title. TDS
Racing is also leading the Team standings, thanks to the good set of
results posted by Pierre Thiriet (TDS Racing), the revelation of the
early part of the season. In his first season in competitive motorsport,
the French driver already has three Top 5 finishes to his name and even
took his first podium spot in Spa-Francorchamps, in just his fourth race.
And he looks to have plenty of potential to improve still further. For
TDS Racing, Pierre Thiriet could very quickly become an important asset
in the race for the title. Second in the overall standings, Mike
Verschuur had a lacklustre weekend in Spa-Francorchamps, suffering
recurrent electrical problems with his car. The whole McGregor by Equipe
Verschuur team has now had the benefit of the several weeks breathing
space between Spa-Francorchamps and Budapest to put things right. The
Dutchman will certainly be hoping to reverse the current trend at the
technical Hungaroring circuit. The drivers from Tech 1 Racing will also
be looking for a second wind. At Spa-Francorchamps, Nick Catsburg (Tech 1
Racing) did not manage to turn his promising performance into results,
while Anthony Tardieu (Tech 1 Racing) only now seems to be gradually
getting to grips with his New Megane Trophy. Which leaves only Matthieu
Cheruy (Tech 1 Racing), who has managed to take just one podium spot to
date. The Tech 1 Racing boys will have to up the pace pretty sharpish if
they want to take their fourth Teams title in a row. After not taking
part in Spa-Francorchamps, Dimitri Enjalbert will make his return to
action in Hungary. Third in the Eurocup Megane Trophy in 2008, and second
back in 2007, the Frenchman has managed only one point so far this
season. So for him the calculation is simple: He has to go all out to
make up lost ground Following the example of his teammate, Jean-Philippe
Madonia (TDS Racing) is dominating the Gentlemen Drivers category, and is
even enjoying the luxury of sitting in fifth place in the overall Drivers
standings. Hoevert Vos (Equipe Verschuur), Jean-Charles Miginiac (Team
Lompech Sport) and Pierre Hirschi (Oregon Team) are waiting in the wings,
ready to pounce on the slightest mistake by the TDS Racing driver. But
the only man so far who has shown he has what it takes to unseat Madonia
is Lorenzo Bontempelli (Oregon Team). Winner of race two at
Spa-Francorchamps in the Gentlemen Drivers category, the Italian will be
back in action at the Hungaroring, looking for a repeat performance.
-credit: wsr
