A three way fight for the lead in the first hour

Plenty of action in the first hour of the FIA GT race at Budapest. A three way battle for the lead between the two remaining Vitaphone Maseratis and the fastest of the two K-plus-K Saleen. In GT2, Trackspeed's Tim Sugden is leading with his Porsche from AF Corse‚'s Toni Vilander, with Sugden still having to come in.

At the start of the race, Bernoldi takes the lead on the inside. Wendlinger is second going into the first corner, Müller drops back to third. Ragginger is leading in GT2 from Ruberti and Bruni. On lap 5 Müller tries to overtake Wendlinger, but locks up under braking before the first corner, collides with Bernoldi and spins, taking Wendlinger with him. The action allows Bertolini to move up into second, Müller pulls into the pits. The number 2-Vitaphone Maserati is the first official retirement in the race. The cooler is damaged in the collision. Müller is disappointed. "My fault, I was too optimistic", he says. For Thomas Mutsch in the number 44-Matech Ford, there is a drive-through penalty because his car had to be push-started for the formation lap.

Wendlinger drops back to eighth, but moves up one place as he overtakes Hezemans on lap 7 and continues his progress, overtaking Longin on lap 10. On lap 15, Martin Ragginer comes in as the GT2 class leader for his first pit stop, handing over to Luigi Lucchini. One lap later,  Wendlinger is in arrears as he comes off the track at turn 6, but he manages to continue. At that point, Bernoldi is still leading from Bertolini, Maassen, Lacko, Pier Guidi, Longin, Wendlinger, Hezemans, Lemeret and Cuppens.

On lap 21, Hezemans is the first GT1 driver to come in for his mandatory pit stop. He stays in the car after the stop. On lap 25, Bernoldi comes in as the race leader and hands over to Roberto Streit. On the same lap, there is a lead change in GT2 as Richard Westbrook successfully attempts to overtake Paolo Ruberti in the number 77 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari. One lap later, Ruberti turns into the pits and hands over to Malucelli. At the end of lap 28, Bertolini pulls into the pits as the first of the Vitaphone Maseratis that are running first and second. Michael Bartels climbs into the car and comes back again in second place.

A nice battle between Michael Bartels and Ryan Sharp for second place emerges on lap 31. The Saleen and the Maserati are side by side a couple of times, but eventually, Bartels comes out on top. One lap later, while lapping a slower GT2 car before the first corner, Sharp tries it again and this time finds a way past Bartels.

Richard Westbrook, the class leader in GT2, comes in on lap 32 to hand the steering wheel to Manu Collard. The number 33-Maserati, driven by Alex Pier Guidi, comes in just before the one hour mark, promoting Ryan Sharp to first place. Bartels is second after 34 laps from Bobbi, Streit, Nilsson, Biagi, Kumpen and Ruffier. Sugden is GT2 leader from Vilander, Studenic, Collard and Manlucelli.