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Zengő to keep pushing Hungarian talent in the 2016 season

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Zengő Motorsport has two entries on the provisional entry list for the 2016 season, with team principal Zoltan Zengő keen to continue to run Hungarian drivers at this team, with series boss François Ribeiro admitting he tried to help place other drivers with the team, but Zengő was committed to his strategy of promoting Hungarian talent.

The team will be without its star Norbert Michelisz in the WTCC for the first time this year, as the 31-year-old has departed to join the factory Honda team, but Zengő plans to run two cars in the World Touring Car Championship this year for upcoming Hungarian talent.

“They asked me not to reveal the names of their drivers but they have decided to keep going with young Hungarian drivers like they did with Norbi [Michelisz] to bring him from video gaming to a factory team,” said WTCC promoter François Ribeiro at the 2016 season launch.

Ribeiro admitted he tried to help steer the team’s driver options, much as he’d helped bring Argentinian Super TC 2000 driver Néstor Girolami into the championship last year testing with Lada and racing with Nika International, but Zengő stood his ground.

“I proposed them different options but in the end Zoltán told me ‘no François, I keep going with young Hungarian drivers’. My team is Hungarian so I keep young with them’ and hats off to him.”

Zengő ran a number of young drivers in the 2015 season while running cars in the European Touring Car Cup and TCR International Series, including Dániel Nagy, Zsolt Szabó, Norbert Tóth and Ferenc Ficza.