The Matech GT Racing Team with regular driver Thomas Mutsch and the young and talented Swiss driver, Jonathan Hirschi, due to a starter motor problem, finished 8 laps behind the winner in the fifth race of the FIA GT Championship season at the Hungaroring in Budapest. The number 44 Ford had to be pushed on the grid just before the start and as a result started the race from last position instead of from the sixth row. As a consequence the car was given a drive-through penalty. "Apart from the problem with the starter it was a good feeling to drive this Ford GT1 car at the Hungaroring. Although we started from the back we managed to fight our way up to seventh position”, reported Thomas Mutsch. "Our fastest lap time was only 1.852 seconds slower than that of the winner. This gives us a good reason to be optimistic for the future.”After a pit stop and driver change on lap 32 the Ford would not start. The car was pushed into the pit garage for repairs and could only rejoin the fray seven laps later. Rookie Jonathan Hirschi was nevertheless impressed. "It was a great experience for me to drive a GT1 car for the very first time. I improved my pace lap after lap. Matech GT Racing is the best team I have ever worked with in my driving career. Furthermore, it was the first race in which I have shared the car with another driver and it was great working together with Thomas Mutsch.” "Overall a mixed weekend”, summarized Martin Bartek, Team Owner and Principal of Matech GT Racing team. "After running relentlessly for two days a broken starter motor unfortunately stopped us from being able to battle at the front. Nevertheless and taking into account that we are still in our development year the team’s, the drivers’ and the car’s performance improved once again.” There was a lot of praise for Jonathan Hirschi, the newcomer in the team. "I was particularly impressed by Jonathan’s ability to master a GT1 car for his first ever FIA GT experience. Jonathan was able to improve his laptimes session by session. I consider him seriously a good candidate for next year’s world championship at a wheel of a Ford GT1”, emphasized Martin Bartek. +++