What GT Open Hungary Report
Where Hungoraring, Budapest
When 17-18 June 2023
Community International
Mokoena stars in surprise Hungarian GT Open outing
The Kyalami Kid, Kwanda Mokoena delivered a starring drive in a surprise appearance at the European GT Open at the Hungoraring in Budapest over the weekend. Kwanda, who went abroad to race the German ADAC GT Masters series, impressed his new team enough to earn him a drive in the past weekend’s Hungarian Open races alongside Luca Engstler in his Liqui Moly Audi R8 GT3 LMS Evo.
The South African Endurance Champion took no prisoners in his first GT Open drive. Despite the disappointment of starting at the back of Saturday’s 32 car first race grid following a qualifying infringement, Kwanda took the wheel and handed the R8 over to Luca in 21st place. Engstler then climbed up to eleventh by the flag, for seventh in the Pro class. Another sterling job saw Luca start and hand over to Kwanda, who brought it home a fine seventh in Sunday’s second heat.
“Now that was a rollercoaster weekend!” Kwanda admitted. “I did not even know I was racing until a day or two before when I was told to get my behind to Budapest! Then we had a great qualifying, only to be gutted to be sent to the back of the grid. But we fought back stronger and more determined than ever and brought it home in the top ten in class. Sunday was easier and I really enjoyed driving the car, passing around the outside and getting quicker and quicker as I went.
“Special thanks to Luca and Team Liqui Moly Engstler for making this incredible rollercoaster weekend possible and to the whole team for doing such a good job. And of course to my mom and dad and family and all my friends and fans back home for all the incredible support! My next race is the second round of the ADAC GT Masters on 8 and July, but after this surprise outing, who knows? Wherever it is, bring it on!”
Issued on behalf of Kwanda Mokoena
MSA Publishes media releases from a host of different sources on our website as a service to the sport. It is not practically possible to vet/approve every release that is published. Some news items and articles are written by correspondents and do not necessarily represent MSA’s views.