Budapest, the buzzing capital city of Hungary, will mark the halfway point of the 2018 Euroformula Open Championship for talented racer Cameron Das this weekend. With three rounds already complete in Estoril, Paul Ricard and Spa, American racer Das now looks ahead to another brand-new circuit to tame in his Carlin-Dallara as he travels to Hungary for two more fast and exciting races.
Das has enjoyed a solid start to his first full season in the competitive Euroformula Open Championship field. The 2016 F4 US Champion has already taken two podiums and a fastest racing lap but has also endured bad luck; most recently at the previous round at Spa. While looking likely to clinch a maiden race win, the victory was cruelly stolen away from him when a fellow competitor tapped him sideways and ultimately into the barriers – ending what had been an impressive and assured drive.
Das has well and truly put the heartbreak behind him to turn his thoughts and ambitions towards the Budapest round – often described as being like ‘Monaco without the barriers.’ The circuit, known for being somewhat tricky to overtake on, is placed just outside of the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Often drawing a great crowd from the city centre and surrounding areas the event also provides tight battles in the Euroformula Open series – from strong charges down to the first corner as the lights extinguish to nose-to-tail action through the subsequent turns, the Hungaroring will no doubt provide another great show this weekend.
Das, who is yet to visit the Hungarian track, said of the upcoming weekend, “This weekend will be my first time in Budapest. I’ve heard so many great things about the track and the city itself, so it’s definitely one of the rounds I’ve looked forward to the most this year. The track is one of the shorter ones on the calendar, but it hosts a lot of varying corner types, so I think it will suit our setup quite well. It’s quite a technical track which is something that has suited my abilities in the past.
“The halfway point of the season is almost upon us, and I’m content with what I’ve accomplished so far. The points are very close at the top, so I know that it could only take one or two races to be in second or third position in the championship at this point. I think I showed what I was truly capable at Spa, so I greatly look forward to doing that again in Hungary.”
This weekend will feature an additional day of testing on Thursday which will fully maximise the amount of track time that the 18-year-old will have in which to get nicely up to speed as he takes on the Hungaroring for the very first time. The full timetable for the upcoming weekend is as follows:
Event timetable (local time):
Thursday:
09:00 – 12:00 Private test 1
13:30 – 14:25 Private test 2
15:30 – 16:25 Private test 3
Friday:
10:10 – 10:40 Free Practice 1
14:10 – 14:40 Free Practice 2
16:40 – 17:10 Free Practice 3
Saturday:
10:40 – 11:10 Qualifying 1
14:40 (17 laps) Race 1
Sunday:
09:00 – 09:30 Qualifying 2
13:10 (17 laps) Race 2