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Positive debut for the new Kia Cee’d at the Hungaroring

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Zengo Motorsport’s Ferenc Ficza was positive about the potential of the new Kia Cee’d GT, following its debut at the Hungaroring this weekend, with the main issue being his adjustment from the SEAT León TCR.

The Cee’d GT TCR arrived at the track on Saturday morning, just ahead of Free Practice 2. A sensor issue stopped the car on circuit, meaning its first complete lap wasn’t until qualifying.

The car finished both 14-lap races, crossing the line in 16th and 14th, though Ficza was demoted to 19th in Race 1 after a 30-second penalty for starting out of position.

“I’m positive,” said Ficza to TouringCarTimes. “I feel the car will be good.

“I think there are some problems with the set-up for me, as the car drives differently to the SEAT which I’ve been driving for four years. There’s a lot of differences, the brake points, the turn-ins, the gear shift up and down are all different.

“It was a shakedown this weekend,” he added. “We need to work on the set-up and driveability and get more and more experience.

Kia’s builder’s STARD were on hand to help prepare the car with Zengo, with the Austrian outfit happy with the weekend given the extremely last-minute nature of the weekend’s deal.

“The deal for Ficza’s car was only completed two days ago,” said STARD CEO Michael Sakowicz to TouringCarTimes.

“We’re here for our customers, and it’s up to our customers if they want to race with no practice or shakedown. It’s not our entry, we’re here to support our customers.

“Without this preparation, I think the weekend was quite OK for us. Given the situation and the very, very late decision, we’re super-happy. It’s a good base to start from, so now we start working.”