The 2026 International GT Open Championship is heading to the famous Hungaroring, situated in the rolling hills of Mogyoród just 20 kilometres outside the Hungarian capital, Budapest.
This year’s sprint race meeting is the 11th visit to the venue for the GT Sport-run championship, seventh consecutively.
Misano provided a memorable introduction to hosting GT Open racing for the first time, and the Hungaroring is expected to offer just as much intensity with its tight track configuration, making overtaking a key challenge and hard-earned feat for the 28 GT3 cars heading there this weekend.
Elite Motorsport enjoyed their maiden GT Open victory last year in Hungary, and they added two more to their tally after a double-win at Misano.
British duo Tom Emson and Tom Lebbon lead the outright championship standings on 72 points and are keen to continue their momentum with their #17 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.
Spa 500 winners Maximilian Götz and Christian Mansell trail on 56 points after a difficult Misano outing, where they finished ninth and did not finish the second race due to contact on the opening lap.
The Misano event served as a stark reminder of the difficulties of racing in the middle of the field at the race start, where drivers are most eager to wrestle past each other for track position. Team Motopark’s #71 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo duo will need strong results in Hungary to close the gap to the Elite pairing.
With two second-placed finishes at Misano, Greystone GT’s #33 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo drivers Dean Macdonald and Zac Meakin are on 49 points in the standings, looking to make their fifth season podium appearance like the #17 Elite Ferrari teammates.
Italian team ZRS Motorsport finished third in the previous race, so #911 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo drivers Alex Fontana and Pietro Armanni continue their efforts to match their marvellous GT Open debut-winning performance back in April and sit on 39 points in the standings.
Villorba Corse are chasing their first win, with their sole podium finish so far being at the Spa 500 endurance race, so Rodrigo Testa and Leonardo Moncini are waiting to shine in the sprint format in their #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2.
Rafael Durán and his Ferrari-contracted teammate Tommaso Mosca grasped their best season finish so far last time out, fourth; however, this overlooks their potential shown so far this season, with the #51 AF Corse Ferrari duo itching to taste victory as well as their #96 AF Corse Ferrari teammates, Yaroslav Veselaho and Thomas Neubauer.
Motopark’s other #28 Mercedes of Marcelo Ramírez and Dominik Baumann rounds out an eight-car Pro category.
Similarly to how two Toms lead outright, two Alexanders are at the top of the Pro-Am championship.
Fach Auto Tech’s Alexander Fach enjoys the lead on 51 points, 20 ahead of his teammate Alexander Schwarzer, who is on a lower points count because he did not race at Misano, where Lucas Wolf replaced him.
Fach himself has won four of the five races completed so far this season, showcasing commanding form in the #11 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo as Schwarzer reunites with him for this race meeting.
Young Belgian star and Aston Martin Racing junior Kobe Pauwels is making his GT Open debut at the Hungaroring with his #97 Blackthorn Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo teammate Charles Bateman, who is third in the Pro-Am championship on 31 points.
Olimp Racing’s #777 Ferrari Polish duo Marcin Jedlinski and Karol Basz are close behind on 30 points, whilst the #26 Saintéloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO 2 of Michaël Blanchemain and Jim Pla are on 22 points.
Libor Milota and Filip Salaquarda share the other #75 Audi in the field belonging to Team ISR, with Hungaroring serving as the closest venue to a home race for the Czechs.
Dexter Müller and Yannick Mettler share the only Mercedes in Pro-Am, the #54-numbered car belonging to CBRX by SPS.
Laurent De Meeus and Vincent Abril are in the #55 AF Corse Ferrari, as Into Africa by Dragon Racing have their #25 Ferrari driven by Xlile Letlaka and Stuart White.
McLaren are equally represented with the Track Focussed #88 car of father-son pairing, Darren and James Kell, and Greystone’s #24 entrant of former LMP1 racer Oliver Webb and Andrey Borodin.
PTT Racing resume their journey in their new #7 BMW M4 GT3 Evo in the hands of Hubert Darmetko and Fabian Dybionka, rounding out the 11 cars in Pro-Am. However, they are not alone in Bavarian machinery in the field.
Gamota Racing, a newly created Slovak outfit, are one of nine entries in the Am category with their #500 BMW line-up, Antal Zsigo, who races this car regularly in the NLS championship, joined by Hungarian driver Csaba Waltér.
Looking to the Am championship fight, two teams share first place on 44 points.
Dominican Republic driver Joel Monegro has two wins in the #12 Fach Auto Tech Porsche and is tied with Polish father-and-son line-up Andrzej and Adrian Lewandowski.
Lewandowski’s #6 Baron Motorsport Ferrari has taken only one victory, from the very first race in Portimão, so is not only chasing another but also taking the championship lead from Monegro.
AF Corse’s #16 Ferrari Brazilian duo Marcelo Hahn and Galid Osman salvaged fourth last time out in Misano, but after a disastrous first race, they find themselves on 36 points with work to close down the front-runners.
Olimp Racing’s #5 Ferrari of Stanislaw Jedliński and Krystian Korzeniowski are looking to break into podium contention. GoodSpeed Racing’s #14 Aston Martin of Piotr Wira and Tomasz Magdziarz took their first Am class win in Misano and are hungry for more.
Solo drivers include Seweryn Mazur in the Sendom Racing #79 Lamborghini and Alfredo Hernández in the #77 Grupo Prom RT Mercedes.
AF Corse brings their #107 Ferrari featuring one of their Michelin Le Mans Cup driver line-ups, combining the talents of American racer Rey Acosta and GT specialist Marco Bonanomi.
GT Open’s first qualifying session is on Saturday 4 July from 09:45 CEST to set the grid for the 70-minute race later that day at 14:35.
On Sunday 5 July, another qualifying session of the same 25-minute duration at 09:35 sets the start grid for a 60-minute race from 14:00.
