One of the high points of the World Series by Renault season, the Hungarian meeting is hugely popular with fans and presents a stiff technical challenge for drivers in all three categories. Now an essential component of the Formula One circuit, the Budapest track has been hosting the Hungarian Grand Prix since 1986 and gives WSR’s young guns a taste of what is expected at the highest rung of the motorsport ladder.

WSR’s Hungarian leg is an ongoing success story and last year’s meeting attracted no fewer than 100,000 spectators, who were treated to some thrilling races that went a long way to deciding where the silverware went at the end of the season. The 2013 meet looks like being no exception, and with Sebastien Buemi also at the wheel in the Infiniti Red Bull Racing F1 Show, it promises to be quite a weekend.

In addition to the Renault Classic Show and Renault Sport Show, Renault Trucks will be serving up its own unique brand of entertainment at the Hungaroring, while there is a free world of fun waiting for fans at the Renault Village. From the Time Tunnel and the Michelin and Renault simulators to the Pit Stop Challenge, there will be plenty to keep them busy. And just as it did in Austria, the World Series by Renault will play host to another round of the European Le Mans Series.

Both Formula Renault 3.5 Series races will be broadcast live on Eurosport International and Eurosport 2, while the whole meeting will be shown online on the Eurosport Player.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series: Magnussen looking to consolidate
Stoffel Vandoorne’s (Fortec Motorsports) pointless weekend at the Red Bull Ring allowed his McLaren Driver Development Programme colleague Kevin Magnussen (DAMS) to move back into the championship lead. Now 27 points clear of his Belgian rival, the Dane has the chance to ram home his advantage on a track where he let victory slip on the final lap of race one last year.

Will Stevens (P1 by Strakka Racing) has climbed up to third thanks to a run of five consecutive races in the points. Returning to the scene of his maiden Formula Renault 3.5 Series podium finish, the Caterham F1 Team protégé will be looking to build on his impressively consistent form.

Nigel Melker (Tech 1 Racing) and Antonio Felix da Costa (Arden Caterham) are also intent on catching the eye. The Dutchman can point to four top-three finishes in the last six races as he continues his search for his first victory, while the Portuguese has hopes of making his mark again at the circuit where he began his stunning late-season charge in 2012.

After his superb double at the Red Bull Ring, Marco Sorensen (Lotus) will be out to continue his surge up the standings and close up on the top five. And after passing up presentable opportunities in the last few meetings, Nico Muller (International Draco Racing), Arthur Pic (AV Formula) and Sergey Sirotkin (ISR) will be giving it all they have got to join the leaders.

On a winding track where DRS strategy will prove crucial, William Buller (Zeta Corse) has the chance to confirm the progress he has been making with his Italian employers, this time in the company of the returning Carlos Sainz Jr (Zeta Corse), who was sixth in Monaco. Three other drivers who could also figure large in Hungary are Carlos Huertas (Carlin), Christopher Zanella (ISR) and Jazeman Jaafar (Carlin).

Race 1: Saturday 14 September, 14:15
Race 2: Sunday 15 September, 13:00

Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0: A two-horse race?
Oliver Rowland (Manor MP Motorsport) and Pierre Gasly (Tech 1 Racing) have pulled clear at the top of the standings, the British driver now enjoying a 17-point lead over his French pursuer. Behind them, however, lie a clutch of drivers who are not about to give up the chase.

With six top-five finishes in eight races, Jake Dennis (Fortec Motorsports) has serious designs on a podium place. As for Esteban Ocon (ART Junior Team), who collected a solitary point on a weekend to forget in Austria, the objective will be to bounce straight back and regain third place. His Lotus F1 Junior Team partner Oscar Tunjo (Josef Kaufmann Racing) will be no less determined, especially having climbed on to the podium in Budapest in 2011.

After kicking off the season with a brace of victories at Motorland Aragon, Matthieu Vaxiviere (Tech 1 Racing) needs to react fast if he is to move back up the standings. Third in Moscow and a winner at the Red Bull Ring, Ignazio D’Agosto (KTR) has his sights set on success, as has team-mate Alexander Albon (KTR) a luckless polesitter in Austria, and William Vermont (ARTA Engineering) and Ed Jones (Fortec Motorsports), who both notched top-three finishes in the previous round.

The podium is exactly where Prema Powerteam duo Luca Ghiotto and Bruno Bonifacio want to be, having failed to appear there since round two at Spa-Francorchamps. Among the other drivers who will be on a salvage mission in Hungary are Mikko Pakari (Fortec Motorsports) and Nyck de Vries (Koiranen GP), both of whom earned second places there 12 months ago, the last time the McLaren tyro was on the podium.

Race 1: Saturday 14 September, 11:25
Race 2: Sunday 15 September, 16:20

Eurocup Mégane Trophy: Can anyone stop Mirko Bortolotti?
In a league of his own since the season’s start, Mirko Bortolotti (Oregon Team 2) posted his second double of the year at the Red Bull Ring. The Italian is so far ahead in the standings that he could wrap the title up in Hungary, though his opponents, starting with Mike Verschuur (McGregor by Equipe Verschuur), have not given up hope. The only man to have between Bortolotti this year, the 2009 champion 2009 in the category will be a serious contender at the Hungaroring, having grabbed both pole positions there the year of his title triumph.

The battle for third place is heating up nicely, with only a handful of points separating Erik Janis (Gravity Charouz), Kevin Gilardoni (Oregon Team 2) and Kelvin Snoeks (Oregon Team 3). Boosted by the progress his team is making, the Czech is aiming for a fourth podium placing at the very least. Once a polesitter and twice in the top-three in Hungary last year, Kevin Gilardoni will hoping for a repeat this time around, while Kelvin Snoeks will be keen to erase memories of his double retirement in Austria.

For their part Max Braams (Las Moras by Equipe Verschuur) and Steven Palette (Team Lompech Sport) have the ability to spoil the leading drivers’ fun at a meeting where the 18-year-old Jelle Beelen (Equipe Verschuur) will be the baby of the field. The young Dutchman is no Eurocup Megane Trophy newcomer, however, having made his Silverstone debut in 2011.

Race 1: Saturday 14 September, 12:40
Race 2: Sunday 15 September, 14:40

Hungaroring timetable