Hungaroring to host 25th Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday

This Sunday, August 1, 2010, will be an important date in the history of Hungarian Formula 1 races, as the day will mark the 25th time the race is being held here at Hungaroring, a track located 20 kilometers from Budapest.

According to driver's portal vezess.hu, which summarized highlights of the first 24 Hungarian F1 races, the first ever, held on August 10, 1986, sold the highest number of tickets, 300,000 for the whole weekend, while the race itself was watched by 180,000 spectators at the track. One of the reasons for the high interest in the race was that it was something that came to this small socialist country from the West.

Since then, 14 different drivers have won races at the Hungaroring, including four - Damon Hill, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Heikki Kovalainen - who scored their first victory here. In two years, the championship was decided in Hungary: in 1992, Nigel Mansell, and in 2001, Michael Schumacher closed the season at the Hungaroring.

As Hungaroring races are scheduled for summer, hot and dry weather is almost guaranteed. It happened only once, in 2006, that the race was held in rain. There is a slight chance for rain again this weekend. Both the Saturday qualifyings and the race on Sunday will start at the usual time at 2 p.m.

Spectators who wish to reach the race track by car are being advised that the usual exit from the M3 motorway at kilometer stone 18 cannot be used by everyone this Sunday. According to hirszerzo.hu, police said only those with VIP stickers can use the exit, while other drivers can use a temporary exit one kilometer down the motorway.

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