Hungarian Baja
FIM Bajas World Cup, round 5
August 10th-12th, 2023
On the strength of his two previous victories at the Hungarian Baja, Stefan Svitko (KTM) once again demonstrated how much he loves the Hungarian tracks by winning the Prologue and then the two special stages on the first day.
Following his day one performance, the Slovak took a useful 10-minute lead over Jan Brabec (KTM) and David Megre (Kawasaki), who were second and third respectively. “The SS2 went better than the SS1 in which I had to rely on the road book,” said Svitko, after day one. He admitted that he could see the tracks more clearly after the passage of the cars. “I'm in good physical shape, I didn't crash, it was a good day for me.”
Svitko gave his opponents no chance on Saturday and claimed the other two stage victories to finish on the top step of the podium. "We ran the same two specials in the opposite direction,” he explained at the finish in Várpalota. “But, after three passages of the cars on the same route, there were stones everywhere and we had to stay focused. Anyway, I enjoyed the race, I didn't make any mistakes, only the heat made me suffer a little.”
Jan Brabec finished second after making two small off-track excursions on the first day which cost him some time. "It's my first race since the Dakar,” said the Czech. “Because I had to recover from my fractured ankle. I felt better on the second day, more relaxed, I was able to find a good rhythm and focus on the navigation. The good news is that I no longer have pain in my ankle when riding…”
Third overall was David Megre, who finished over four minutes behind Brabec. "In the SS1, I was kind of in survival mode because of the many stones. Today, I tried to put some gas in the morning stage to catch up Brabec because the points in the FIM Bajas World Cup are important for me. But he was very fast so I decided to finish the race smartly and secure third position!”
Veteran Pedro Bianchi Prata (Honda) finished in a strong fourth, ahead of Mohammed Al-Baloosh (KTM)i, who did not like the dust on the route of the first stage but found himself better on the reverse course and in the higher temperatures. Richárd Hodola (KTM) finished sixth followed by Andrew Houlihan (KTM) and Joanna Modrzewska (Husqvarna), who won the Women’s category.
There was bad luck for Paulo Cardoso (Kawasaki), a victim of a mechanical problem on the first day. The FIM jury authorised the Portuguese to restart but he broke his engine in the first kilometres of SS3.
In the quad category, Kevin Giroud had to cede victory to Juraj Varga. “Very fast. I accelerated as much as possible today,” confided the Slovak. “Because the difference between Giroud and me was very small. The track was better for quads thanks to the cars that had cleared the track. It was a tough fight and I had to give my all to keep the lead.”
Kevin Giroud enjoyed a strong race. He said: “the stones were really a problem for him. We have a big fight with Varga, who is very fast.” Saudi Arabia’s Haitham Al-Tuwaijri came home in third.
Overall results Bikes
1. Stefan Svitko 5hr 48min 49sec
2. Jan Brabec @ 15min 45sec
3. David Megre @ 20min 29sec
4. Pedro Bianchi Prata @ 39min 12sec
5. Mohammed Al-Balooshi @ 46min 54sec
Overall results Quads
1. Juraj Varga 6hr 29min 26sec
2. Kevin Giroud @ 2min 01sec
3. Haitham Al-Tuwaijri @ 54min 41sec