• Team RaceArt wins both races during maiden visit to Hungaroring
• Sam Jongejan closes up on championship lead with second career victory
• Jules Grouwels retains lead in Pro-Am standings despite Saturday DNF

Maastricht, 7 July 2025 - Team RaceArt enjoyed a prosperous first visit to the Hungaroring, completing a weekend sweep in Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux. Jaap van Lagen and Sam Jongejan battled through the sweltering summer heat to take a race win each.

The third round of the Carrera Cup Benelux season brought something of a unique prospect for Team RaceArt, as it presented the Maastricht-based squad with a new circuit. Despite racing in various championships across Europe for more than a decade, the team had never competed at the Hungaroring, best known for hosting Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix. This time the circuit, located not far from Hungary’s capital city of Budapest, hosted the International GT Open, with Carrera Cup Benelux forming part of the support bill.

The team used Friday’s two Free Practice sessions to get up to speed and sharpen its knowledge of the circuit, while also adapting to the Hungarian summer heat that was set to be a factor throughout the weekend.

Notably, while neither the team nor Jongejan or Jules Grouwels had raced at the Hungaroring previously, the same could not be said for Van Lagen. The veteran racer counted on his circuit knowledge from previous outings from championships as diverse as the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup to Formula Renault 3.5 to capture pole position for both races during Saturday morning qualifying. Jongejan qualified eighth for both races, while Grouwels took second and first in Pro-Am, respectively.

The weekend’s first of two races, held on Saturday evening, was won by Van Lagen as he put down a commanding performance from pole position. Despite having a healthy lead wiped out mid-race by a safety car and subsequent red flag, the Dutchman controlled the race from the front and resisted a late challenge from rookie Frank Porte Ruiz to take his first series victory - another accolade to add to an already rich career resume.

Jongejan, from eighth on the grid, put in an alert drive to remain out of trouble as cars around him became involved in incidents. He finished fifth, picking up valuable championship points in the process. Grouwels unfortunately failed to reach the finish line, retiring after hitting the pit wall as he was caught up in an incident not of his own making.

The grid positions for the second race on Sunday were largely identical to the day before, with Van Lagen from pole position and Jongejan once again in eighth. In an incident-filled race, Jongejan again kept out of trouble to climb as high as second, avoiding a mid-race collision at Turn 1 that eliminated multiple cars and then taking maximum advantage when Niels Langeveld ran wide out of Turn 13 to move into second. When Van Lagen, running in first, then had to serve a drivethrough penalty for an earlier collision that occurred battling for the lead, it left the way clear for Jongejan to claim a second career victory in Carrera Cup Benelux.

Grouwels, for his part, rebounded from Saturday’s setback in the best possible way by taking a third Pro-Am class victory of the season. After his penalty was served, Van Lagen pushed hard to recover as much of the lost ground as possible, crossing the line in 11th place.

Thanks in large part to his Saturday victory, Van Lagen retook the lead in the drivers’ championship with 102 points, moving six points clear of Niels Langeveld. Jongejan’s second win, meanwhile, propelled him into championship contention as he is now three points further back in second place.

In the Pro-Am standings, Grouwels maintained the championship lead despite his Race 1 retirement, while Team RaceArt further strengthened its advantage in the teams’ championship. The squad gathered 199 points across the first half of the season, 44 points clear of its nearest rivals.

With the opening half of the season in the rear view mirror, Carrera Cup Benelux will next visit TT Circuit Assen. As has become tradition, the Cathedral of Speed will host the popular Jack’s Casino Racing Day event on August 8-10.

Driver comments:

Sam Jongejan

"This weekend started quite difficult. The Hungaroring is a challenging track: short and technical. That makes it all the more important to find the best possible setup.I had also never been there before, which makes getting up to speed more challenging. You build up the weekend slowly and gradually. We found a good setup in the second Free Practice session. The car felt good on old tires, but that naturally then brings the pressure to deliver on fresh tires. Qualifying didn’t go too smoothly. I wanted too much, made too many little errors and qualified eighth twice as a result. That makes the rest of the weekend look like a huge challenge, but by staying out of trouble and staying patient I managed to finish fifth in the first race. Then came the second race. Steer clear of the chaos ahead, take advantage of mistakes at the front and suddenly you end up in first place. I never expected that and I'm super happy with it. I'm obviously going to enjoy this. We are back in the championship fight, so bring on the second half of the season.”

Jaap van Lagen

"All in all, a very positive weekend. On Thursday we ran into a problem with the brakes in testing, but after some good analysis we were able to solve that and from then on things ran great. The basic set-up was extremely solid and apart from a few very minor adjustments we left it virtually unchanged. I had a fantastic car all weekend. Massive compliments to the team, who gave me a superb car with which I could attack from the first lap to the last. It just kept on going. The qualifying laps were also very good. I have never set such good times at the Hungaroring before, including a a new race lap record for a Porsche Cup car. Super satisfied with two poles and one race win. In the second race I unfortunately received a drivethrough penalty for a collision with Knutsson. This puts you at the back of the field, especially when there has just been a safety car. I personally found the penalty to be quite harsh. I think a five-second time penalty would have been more appropriate, but that's not for me to decide.  All in all, a good weekend. We are leading the championship. Me in the Pro standings, Jules in Pro-Am and as a team we’re also in a strong position at the top of the standings. So I see only positives. On to the second half of the season. I'm looking forward to it!"

Jules Grouwels

"I learnt a lot on the challenging track in Hungary. Unfortunately, the first race ended poorly, but the second race I drove strongly and took the maximum points. On to Assen!"