As the Baja Extremadura approaches, one of the hot topics is the T1+ category. Meet Hungary's Lorinc Meszaros and his new co-driver, Niki Szoke, who will be driving a Ford F150+ in the European Cup season opener.

After racing in the T4 National category in the Hungarian championship for four years, Meszaros sought a fresh challenge. Last year, he finished fourth in T3 in the Rally Greece Off-Road, but the rest of the season didn't go as planned. This year, he decided to take on a more significant challenge by moving to the T1+ category. Just before Christmas, his secret weapon arrived: a brand new Ford F150+ built by Czech Dakar veteran Miroslav Zapletal.
However, it's not only the category and the car that are new for him this year, but also the co-driver. Niki Szoke has more than a decade of experience in cross-country rallies in multiple categories, both in the Hungarian championship and at the international level.
After some tests, the newly-formed crew made their debut at the Szekesfehervar Rally, the opening round of the Hungarian championship. Although the classic rally tracks were not ideal for the 2.3-metre-wide beast, Meszaros and Szoke focused on learning about the car and working together. As they were already preparing for the Baja Extremadura, they took a cautious approach to save the car as much as possible.

"This is a real challenge. We had some tests, but we still need to cover more kilometres together. It wasn't the best for us to start the season with a normal rally, as some of the specials were not suitable for our car. This T1+ car is really wide, 2.3 metres, and the tyres weigh 50 kg, so we hope we won't have too many punctures. We tried to enjoy the race in Szekesfehervar, to learn about the car and learn to work together. In just one week, we'll depart for Spain, so we tried to keep the car in one piece. We hope to keep improving," said the co-driver at the end of the rally.

Text: Rita Kónya
Photos: M1 Motorsport