Successful half-year behind the GRT drivers
The first half of the year was a successful one for all the drivers of the Gender Racing Team. Hungary's best-known formula car team was successfully strengthened by Oliver Michl on the racing circuits, the perennial Hungarian champion László Szász in the hill climb races, Tamás Gender Junior on the Italian and European go-kart tracks, and Marcell Sziklay-Toldi on the national and Central European go-kart tracks. The middle of the year is also the middle of the racing season for the Gender Racing Team. The drivers of the team have successfully completed the races in different categories and at different venues.
- It is a great pleasure to return this season and to continue GRT's core mission of educating young athletes internationally with the new F4 project. As in our previous Formula Renault era, Formula 4 is currently the most preferred category on an international level. This is linked to the recent F4 CEZ Championship, in which we race in 2023. The latest official Formula 4 series, which is also listed by the FIA, will greatly increase the results available in the series and the sporting value of the teams participating in the series," said Tamás Gender, adding that it is a very serious challenge to compete in this category with drivers and teams that have several years of experience in the major F4 championship series such as the English, Italian or Spanish championships. That is why the team boss is very proud of the team and of Michl Oliver's performance in the first half of the year, as they have so far done very well in this very strong field. All this has been achieved through a very deliberate and steady build-up, which is already yielding great results in terms of lap times and championship standings. Oliver currently sits fourth in the championship and hopefully his first podium finishes this year will not be far off.
The first half of the year was also a successful one for the perennial Hungarian champion László Szász, who always sets the bar high to achieve even better times. He said that he had no problems with the car and would like to get even more out of his racing machine, despite the fact that there are often more powerful models in the field. - In recent months, I've also raced at venues that were previously unknown to me, but for me it's never about the position, it's about the time result," said László Szász, who had a particularly difficult, rainy race in Poland and had to face with difficult road conditions in Slovenia, as did his fellow competitors. His next race will take place in Montenegro, and he will face a strong field of competitors in Germany. He said that he is specifically preparing for the Bongo HillClimb Monsters in October - and also preparing hard for Skradin as the event is a tribute to his former teammate who competed as a Hungarian with a Croatian license. Then, at the end of the year, he will have two races in Tenerife.
In June, Gender Tamás Junior made his debut for his new team in Denmark, and also this month he competed in the second round of the Italian Karting Championship for his former team, on a familiar track but in a new class at La Conca circuit in Italy. The entries went very well. This year's third round of the Champions of the Future Euro Series Tamás Gender Junior and his new team, Forza Racing, got to know each other in Rodby under racing conditions. The team previously fielded George Russell, the 25-year-old Mercedes Formula 1 driver who made history with the team in 2012 by becoming the first driver to successfully defend his title in the junior category at the CIK-FIA European Karting Championship. Forza Racing was making its debut on the international karting scene at that time. Tamás Gender Junior made his debut in this team.
The Hungarian kart racer's first race weekend with Forza Racing was all about bonding, followed by the second round of the Italian Karting Championship, where he raced with his former team and competed in the junior category for the first time at La Conca. The track was not completely unfamiliar to him, although he had to get used to junior karting, but he was motivated to get going. Competing for Team Driver, he proved his place at the top of the field on the first day of the weekend. - It was a great start to the weekend for me, as I had a very good pace on the wet track on Friday. Overall, I'm positive about the weekend because I was able to keep up with the pace of the front runners - said HUMDA-supported Gender Tamás Junior, who will next race in the sixth round of this year's IAME series in Franciacorta, Italy, now in the colours of Forza Racing. It was the first time he had raced a go-kart in this class, and not only the engine but also the Komet tyres were a novelty for him. But he and his team worked very hard to get his pace right. In qualifying, Gender Tamás Junior was able to take third place, and he was able to turn second at every start. These are promising signs for the next race in Cremona, this year's fourth round of the Champions of the Future Euro Series.
For Marcell Sziklay-Toldi, this year is all about changing categories and getting to know the racing technique effectively. The first couple of race weekends have gone well for the young kart racer, who first made his debut with a win in Kecskemét and then finished third in the Hungarian standings in a much stronger field of more than 30 competitors. - We are now preparing for the Czech championship of the Morva Cup, which will feature Czech and Polish karters alongside Hungarian, Slovakian and Austrian drivers.I expect a really good competition in the KZ category, which is the strongest category in karting," he said, adding that he is satisfied that he has already finished in the top of the strong midfield at the international level at the beginning of the season and knows that he is heading in the right direction for development.
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