The compact Várpalota-based event was originally pencilled into the FIA calendar as round five of the series but Baja Spain Aragón moved from its original July date to mid-September because of the high risk of wildfires in northern Spain in the summer. 

The Hungarian event has attracted a 35-car FIA field with a dozen crews registered for the FIA European Baja Cup. Of those, eight will compete in the Ultimate category and two in both the Challenger and SSV sections. There are no Stock entrants. 

After the opening three rounds of the series in Spain, Greece and Italy, Portugal’s SSV category-leading Paulo Rodrigues and his navigator Fausto Mota lead the overall Drivers’ and Navigators’ Championships by 16 points from the Lithuanian duo of Benediktas Vanagas and Aisvydas Paliukenas. Rodrigues is absent in Hungary and that opens the door for second seed Vanagas to take full advantage. 

The Lithuanian won the Hungarian Baja in 2022. He also tops the Ultimate standings in his Gurtam Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltics Hilux from Czech driver Karel Trněný and his navigator Václav Pritzl. The X-Force ACCR Ford F-150 Evo pair are classified third in the general classification with Trněný leading the way in the Master Driver section.  

The top seeds in Hungary are Belgian driver Guillaume de Mévius and his Andorra-based navigator Mathieu Baumel. They crew a petrol-engined X-Raid Mini JCW Rally and have registered for European points. 

Portugal’s Maria Gameiro drives a diesel-version of the X-Raid Mini and teams up with Rosa Romero in a second car. Gameiro is fourth in the Ultimate standings after round three and eighth in the Drivers’ Championship.

Romania’s Costel Căşuneanu (Mini), Portugal’s José Rogeira (767/PRK Team Ford Ranger), Poland’s Maríusz Wiatr (Ford F-150) and UAE-based Aliyyah Koloc (Buggyra ZM Racing Red-Lined Revo) are also chasing overall and Ultimate category points in Hungary. They currently hold fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth in the Ultimate points’ standings. 

Drivers entered who are not registered for the FIA European Baja Cup include Czech veteran Miroslav Zapletal (Ford), the experienced Austrian Kristof Danner (Puch) and the Hungarian duo of Pal Lónyai (Porsche) and Albert Horn (Ford).

Dinis Rogeira is the only driver to have scored points in the Challenger category this season and the Portuguese also tops the Junior rankings in his Can-Am Maverick X3. His 767/PRK Rally Team trails Rio Seco Racing by 95 points in the Teams’ title race. 

He and navigator Nelson Ramos face competition from the Polish duo of Marek Kubiczek and Artur Kordala (Taurus Evo Max) in Hungary. 

Seven further crews have entered the Challenger category but are not registered for the FIA European Baja Cup. They include local driver Lukács ‘Csucsu’ Kornél in a Taurus and Germany’s Paul Schmidt in an X-Raid Fenic. 

The battle for SSV category honours is hotting up with the absent Paulo Rodrigues leading the way by 40 points from Murat Kapanoğlu. Filipe Lopes and Rúben Rodrigues are in close contention. 

Poland’s Ernest Kús and Grzegorz Szymanski are the only rivals to Kapanoğlu for championship points in Hungary but Murat will be confident that he can score the maximum allotted points and move into contention for the SSV title in his ASC BMW Motorsport Bulgaria-entered Can-Am. 

Non-registered SSV drivers include former Dakar motorcycle winner Matthias Walkner in a Can-Am Maverick and Lithuania’s Alexsandr Celiadin in a similar machine run by the South Racing Can-Am Team.  

In a compact route of 548.79km laid on by the organising Garilla Racing Kft. and Garzone s.r.o., 457.90km will be timed against the clock. The event is based at Thury Castle. 

After a short shakedown near Várpalota on Friday morning (August 14), the starting order for the first short stage of 49.34km in the evening will be determined by a mid-afternoon Prologue that runs for 11.02km. 

The bulk of the action takes place on Saturday (August 15) with two passes through a demanding stage of 132.60km between Várpalota and Gyulafirátót running before a reverse run through a slightly shorter final section of 132.34km between Gyulafirátót and Várpalota. 

What makes this year’s Hungarian Baja so challenging is the fact that there will be no restart opportunity between the three selective sections on Saturday. No stage points will be handed out on Friday’s stage either. 

Trophies will be awarded from 21.00hrs in Várpalota Főtér Szabadság Square on Saturday evening.
 

2026 Hungarian Baja – entry list:

Ultimate 

200. Guillaume de Mévius (BEL)/Mathieu Baumel (FRA)​​ - X-Raid Mini JCW 3.0i*

201. Benediktas Vanagas (LTU)/Aisvydas Paliukenas (LTU) ​​- Toyota Hilux*

202. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Pavel Vaculik (CZE) - ​​​Ford F-150 Evo​

203. Karel Trněný (CZE)/Václav Pritzl (CZE)​​​ - Ford F-150 Evo*

204. Maria Gameiro (POR)/Rosa Romero (ESP)​​ - ​X-Raid Mini JCW 3.0d*

205. Costel Căşuneanu (ROU)/Sergiu Itu (ROU) - ​Mini Countryman R60 CC*

206. José Rogeira (POR)/Paulo Marques (POR)​​​ - Ford Ranger*

207. Maríusz Wiatr (POL)/Łukasz Łaskawiec (POL)​​​ - Ford F-150 Evo+*

208. Vincent Thijs (BEL)/Tom de Leeuw (NED) ​​​- Toyota Hilux​​​

209. Pal Lónyai (HUN)/Alexandra Miklós (HUN)​​​ - LPR Porsche Macan​

210. Aliyyah Koloc (UAE)/Marcin Pasek (POL)​​​ - Red-Lined Revo GTR*

211. Adam Lacko (CZE)/Mirko Brun (ITA)​​ - ​Red-Lined Revo T1+

212. Marcus Walcher GER)/Stefan Stensky (GER)​​​ - Red-Lined Nissan Navara VK56​

214. Frantisek Brutovsky (CZE)/Norbert Liszi (HUN) ​​- Ford F150+​​​

215. Rients Hofstra (NED)/Wouter de Graaff (NED)​ - ​Red-Lined Revo GTR

216. Justin Birchall (GBR)/Andy Powell (GBR)​​​ - Red-Lined Revo T1+

218. Christof Danner (AUT)/Herwig Reiger (AUT)​​​ - Puch 320 G E55

219. Albert Horn (HUN)/Nikolett Szőke (HUN)​​​ - Ford F-150 Evo+

220. Jacek Sobon (POL)/Bartosz Weyna (POL)​​​ - Ford Ranger Raptor 

Challenger 

300. Dinis Rogeira (POR)/Nelson Ramos (POR) - ​​​Can-Am Maverick X3*

301. Marek Kubiczek (POL)/Artur Kordala (POL)​​​ - Taurus Evo Max*

302. Lukács ‘Csucsu’ Kornél (HUN)/Márk Mesterházi (HUN) ​- Taurus T3 Max

303. Adam Kús (POL)/Maciej Giemza (POL)​​​ - Taurus Evo Max 

304. Marcin Nasiłowski (POL)/ Michał Goloniewski (POL)​​ - Taurus T3 Max 

305. Paul Schmidt (GER)/Jeanette Kvick (DEN)​​​ - X-raid Fenic 

306. Riccardo Benettolo (ITA)/Martina Musiari (ITA)​​ - Taurus T3 Max

307. Martin Benko (SVK)/Jiri Kalat (CZE)​​​ - Taurus T3 Max

308. Toomas Triisa (EST)/Tamo Toodo (EST)​​​ - Bairons SRT Viking 
 

SSV

400. Murat Kapanoğlu (BUL)/Aleksandr Trendafilov (BUL)​​ - Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR*

401. Ernest Kús (POL)/Grzegorz Szymanski (POL)​​​ - Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR*

402. Matthias Walkner (AUT)/Oliver Pyerin (AUT)​​​ - Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR

403. Juraj Varga (SVK)/Radovan Schneider (SVK)​​​ - Polaris RXR Pro R

404. Tómas Kubiena (CZE)/Miroslav Losos (CZE)​​​ - Can-Am Maverick R​

405. Alexsandr Celiadin (LTU)/Arunas Gelaznikas (LTU)​​ - Can-Am Maverick R

*denotes registered for FIA European Baja Cup

Timetable of events

Thursday, August 13 

Administration checks​​​: ​12.30-21.00hrs - Thury Castle, Várpalota

Scrutineering checks​​​: 13.30-20.00hrs - Thury Castle, Várpalota
 

Friday, August 14

Shakedown​​​​​: 07.00-12.00hrs - Várpalota

Pre-event press conference​​​: 13.00hrs - Thury Castle, Várpalota

Prologue – 11.02km​​​​: 14.30hrs - first car

Stage 1 – 49.34km​​​​: 17.40hrs – first car 

Ceremonial start​​​​​: 21.00hrs – Várpalota Főtér Szabadság Square 

Saturday, August 15 

Stage 2 – 132.60km Várpalota - Gyulafirátót​​: 08.15hrs – first car 

Stage 3 – 132.60km Várpalota - Gyulafirátót​​: 12.25hrs – first car 

Stage 4 – 132.34km Gyulafirátót - Várpalota: ​17.00hrs – first car 

Podium ceremony​​​​: 21.00hrs – Várpalota Főtér Szabadság Square