2022 Hungarian Baja: Hungarian Laurels for Mulec on a motorcycle and Varga on a quad!

 This year’s Hungarian Baja didn’t deviate from tradition and took place in the Lake Balaton region under a blazing sun. An excellent weekend of racing also saw three women make it to the podium: Mirjam Pol was third in the motorcycles and Kristina Vankova and Nelly Caisova finished second and third in the quads, respectively.

In addition to the heat, a strong wind came into play on Saturday and played havoc for Baja officials by blowing down banners and tape that are used to define the perimeter of the Baja route. Fortunately, competitors had their bikes equipped with a road book, although they still had to know how to read it...As a result, many riders, including Jan Brabec, got lost and were heavily penalised, Brabec actually throwing in the towel after Saturday’s stages.

If the first section was difficult for some, others learned from the mistakes, including Toni Mulec who, to his surprise, took the overall win. “In the second part, I better understood and followed the indications of the road book,” said the Slovenian. “As I no longer had to suffer the dust of the quads, it also helped me to ride better.”

Second overall on the event, Robert Wallace explained: “I had a good rhythm but when I arrived in the 15-minute waiting zone, something did not work in my brain and I continued...I concentrated more in the second part.”

As for Mirjam Pol, she rode well to finish third in the provisional general standings. “The first special was great but I had more trouble in the second because of the dust. On the other hand, I had a lot of fun watching the riders get lost while I was concentrating on the road book.”

The two Saturday loops both ran for 140.23km, but Sunday’s fourth and fifth stages were only 66.79km apiece.

Toni Mulec (KTM) won both of the shorter and faster specials on Sunday. “It was much faster today,” confided the Slovenian. “In the second loop, after the passage of the cars, there were a lot of stones on the track. It was also more dangerous because there was dust and it was difficult to approach others to overtake. It was my first Baja, maybe it will make me want to participate in other races.”

Second behind Mulec, Robert Wallace (KTM) was hampered in the dust of a quad, while Mirjam Pol (Husqvarna) climbed on to the third step of the podium and won the Women's category.

In the quad section, victory fell to Slovak Juraj Varga (Yamaha), who finished ahead of Kristina Vankova (Yamaha) and Nelly Caisova (Yamaha).

Wallace won the Junior category, ahead of Vankova and Caisova, while Barry Howe topped the Veteran section.

Source: FIM
Photo: Hungarian Baja