Budapest parade: the City Challenge is in town!

A stunning parade of genuine FIA GT race cars from the Hungaroring circuit all the way to the city centre of Budapest was a great kick-off for the Budapest City Challenge! Thousands of fans came out to the Heroes Square (Hősök tere) for an autograph session with race drivers.

Those who went for a quiet evening walk along Andrassy Ut, one of Budapest's beautiful boulevards, had to look twice before they actually believe what they saw: real race cars roaring down the wide street, all the way from Hősök Tere down to Roosevelt Tőr on the bank of the Danube and then all up again back to Hősök Tere, where the drivers climbed out of their cars for an autograph session. The gorgeous sound of the race engines and the fantastic sight of the stunning race cars caught the attention of everyone who happened to be present in the city centre on Friday evening.

Everyone along the street pulled out mobile phones and digital cameras to capture the fascination of this extraordinary event. The official Leading Car of the FIA GT Championship, a white Wiesmann roadster, led the parade of cars that included sports cars from Maserati, Porsche, Ferrari, Ford, Saleen and Corvette - a beautiful sample of the action that can be expected on the Hungaroring this weekend. Also taking part in the parade was the official City Challenge VIP Race Shuttle, a Porsche 911 GT3 in City Challenge livery, that is making its debut this weekend.

The police and local authorities were very helpful in making this unique event happen. Police cars escorted the parade and policemen on motorcycles temporarily blocked all the motorway junctions and crossroads in the city centre to make sure that the race cars could pass safely. "This is really stunning. Driving my race car on the motorway and then in the city is amazing", said Belgian Bas Leinders, who drove the Marc-VDS-Racing Ford GT.

From today onwards, the cars are back in their natural habitat. Today is the first day of GT action on the circuit with free practice, pre-qualifying and qualifying for the FIA GT Championship and the first race of the Alpe Adria Clio Cup. Access to the circuit is free!