Competition is Fierce at Mecsek Rally

All the top riders in Hungary will be on the starting grid for the 56th Mecsek Rally, the third race of this year’s HUMDA National Rally Championship (NRC), taking place in and around Pécs, in the southwest of Hungary, on Friday and Saturday, and the fight for this year’s championship title could be fierce.

The event is also one of the stages of the European Historic Championship for veteran drivers. As for the national championships, the pair of Péter Ranga and János Czakó, who won the first event in Székesfehérvár, will be back in the field after missing the second round, the Salgó Rally, in May.

The 2019 Hungarian absolute champion and overall leader Ferenc Vincze – with navigator Nándor Percze at his side – will try to take the Skoda Fabia R5 to victory, but it is not expected to be an easy task, as all the Hungarian star drivers will be on the grid in Mecsek.

The Frigyes Turán and Ágnes Farnadi duo, who finished second in Salgótarján, would also move up to second place in the championship points race with this result, while the driver of the Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 would triumph for the third time in Mecsek after finishing second in 2009 and 2013, where he finished second in 2012 and 2018.

“We love the tracks around Pécs and after the Salgó Rally we expect a similar atmosphere and just as good results,” said Turán, who said the program will include familiar fast stages. “The car, the team, and we as individuals, all tested well in the previous round, so we are confident that we can overcome the small obstacles in Mecsek and have a successful race,” added the Shell Helix Ultra team driver.

The team of Ádám Velenczei and Zsolt Vánsza, who have been diligently collecting podium finishes in recent years, will start the event with a new car, the latest Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, and as the driver said in his team’s statement, the car operated by Czech Orsak Rally Sport, will be on display in Hungary for the first time.

Gábor Német and Gergely Németh (Hyundai i20 Rally2), who are currently third in the championship points race, will also be competing in the Mecsek Rally, as will four-time Hungarian champion András Hadik and Krisztián Kertész (Ford Fiesta R5), and Róbert Bútor and Róbert Tagai in the WRC Citroen C3.

Alongside the other Hungarian front-runners, the World Championship duo of Zoltán László and Zsolt Mihály Balázs (Skoda Fabia Rally2) and the European Championship pair of Martin László and Dávid Berendi (Skoda Fabia Rally2) are also among the more than 200 cars in the field.

The 56th Mecsek Rally will start on Friday at 02:45 p.m. with a line-up of 200 cars, with six high-speed stages on the first day. The race will continue on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. with six more stages, and the final result will be determined after 161 kilometers of racing.

Tibor Markó, the race’s chief sports organizer, added that it is a very difficult task to “put together” such an event nowadays, and that

more than 600 people will be working on the two days of the race to ensure its success.

The results  of the 56th Mecsek Rally will be announced at around 03:30 p.m. on Saturday at Széchenyi Square in Pécs.

Via MTI; Featured image: Facebook/Mecsek Rallye Event