Hyundai Motor held its third urban racing event, the Brilliant Motor Festival, on a city circuit in Songdo International Business District, Incheon, over the weekend as part of its ongoing push for performance cars

According to the carmaker, the annual event, the nation’s only in-city racing competition, attracted around 150,000 visitors this year, up from last year’s some 100,000 visitors.

“We will continue to ramp up our efforts to create the nation’s motorsports culture that is still in its infancy,” Hyundai Motor executive vice president Kwak Jin said at a press briefing Sunday.

A total of 85 Hyundai and Kia cars, including Genesis Coupe, Veloster Turbo and Koup Turbo, participated to run the 2.5-kilometer street circuit laid in the city center.

The latest Avante Sport, the motorsports version of Hyundai’s Avante compact that debuted last month, also took part in the competition.

“Monthly sales of Avante Sport is higher than we anticipated. It accounts for around 8 percent of total Avante sales -- around 600 units as of May,” Kwak said, adding, “We are aiming to expand the portion up to 15 percent.”

In order to heat up the festive mood, the carmaker also held a night race for the first time.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)