The last entries have been registered and the tracks are ready to be tested at the Hungarian Baja, the Hungarian Cross-Country World Cup event to be held this weekend (11-14 August).

30 cars and 5 trucks are entered and this year the field contains stars once again. The biggest name is arguably Mikko Hirvonen, who competed for more than a decade in the FIA World Rally Championship. Although he did not win the driver’s championship, he finished second four times and third twice. He won 15 of the 163 WRC events he started scoring a total of 69 podiums, and is now flying once again in the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies.

Hirvonen’s arrival was only one of the interesting news of the press conference on Hungarian Baja held on Wednesday in Kossuth room of the Town Hall in Veszprém.

Péter Ovádi, representative of the local authorities of Veszprém, greeted the journalists: “Machine against machine, man against man,” he said. "Veszprém is proud to host the Hungarian Baja for the eighth time. It is a sport-loving city, we are very proud of our clubs and athletes with big traditions who represent the City of Queens all over the world.

“Hungarian Baja also belongs to this list and Veszprém, with its special geography and sport-loving residents, provides excellent venue to the World Cup race. The commitment of Veszprém and its population is proved by the fact that every year thousands of people are interested in this race. Congratulations to the organizers for the results so far and for the achievement that every year they are able to attract the best representatives of this sport to Veszprém to compete at the foothills of Bakony.”

Event organiser Zoltán Garamvölgyi spoke about the 148km route and also mentioned that the Sunday stage will be dedicated to the memory of ‘Uncle Stigi’, József Stigelmaier who served the sport for decades as marshal and later as chief steward and who painfully cannot be present at this year’s event.

He continued, “The ceremonial start will be held at an imposing venue – the Old Town Square in Veszprém, and then the competitors will show themselves in Balatonfüred, Almádi and Fűzfő and returning back to their starting point in Hajmáskér they will perform at the 11 km superspecial stage. The real battle will start afterwards, the entrants will go through the 148km stage twice on Saturday and once on Sunday. The spectators are warmly welcomed to Hajmáskér where we have built jumps for the bigger excitement. The stream-crossing in Döbrönte is an unmissable part of this year’s race as well, one of the highlights from the spectators’ point of view.”

The 3-times Hungarian champion Károly Fazekas who won his titles by car, but now he competes with a Scania among the ‘big guys’ – the trucks.

Péter Osváth’s start is another first for the event. He is well-known in rally, but is less renowned in cross-country events. And to top of it he will compete with Fazekas’s previous BMW. 

“For the time being I drove only 100 meters on asphalt in order to see how the car works. It was an extremely fast decision to enter Hungarian Baja. Honestly, I could start with an easier race, but I like challenges. Ági Farnadi will be my co-driver. We are preparing a lot, the car is good, so we hope to get a good result. We believe in it,” said Péter Osváth at the end of the press conference.

For more information go to the event website here.