[ad_1]
Draft beer, cold drinks! – announces the stand next to the entrance, and despite the relatively high prices, the line snakes in front of it. In a tent a few meters away from the stand, quiz games are being played, such as to get a prize bag you have to be able to name the three scum riders who have won the individual European title in the era of the European Track Championship (SEC).
Because for the first time in the eleven-year history of the four-stage European Championship series, the Pereni Parsala Kemada Stadium hosted a European final match, and not just a qualifying match – in addition to fans of sports events, of course, because of the evening preparations of the Hungarian national football team, a special program was prepared for visitors to Debrecen. By the way, the organizers also took into account those who were going to Nageldo and provided special buses for all those who watched the preliminaries live and then rushed on. For Hungarian-Israeli EC primary testing.
The pair from Debrecen cost 2,000 forints, while kürtőskalács filled with all sorts of earthly goods also cost 2,000 forints on a Maya-like buffet line, where anyone who wanted to cool off with a twisted ice cream on a hot day of around 30 degrees Celsius had to leave behind a King Matthias in exchange.
More than an hour before the first race, the stadium, which currently seats around 5,000 spectators, is already half full. The best seats, the chairs shaded by the trees surrounding the track, are not even sold out at this point. Incidentally, the facility, which was also the venue for football and athletics competitions at the time, served Hajdú Volán, which ceased to exist in 2002 but had been home to the Cinderblock World Cup competitions in the 1970s and 1980s. Meanwhile, two old tractors are driving around, watering, turning over slag, putting the finishing touches on the process.
In the sixteen-man field, 49-year-old Norbert Magosi was considered the leader of the field, earning himself a free card in Europe’s narrow elite. But defending champion Mikkel Michelsen, Denmark’s Leon Madsen, Poland’s Patrik Dudek and Latvia’s Anzez Lebedev, four of last season’s best five players, also made the grand prize.
The first round immediately brought a big surprise, as Madsen, who was declared the favorite, only finished fourth, so he still had no points in the third race. In fourth place – the weakest quartet on paper – five-time Hungarian champion Magosi started, who is considered a legend in Hungarian off-road racing, but unfortunately his start was not very good, he finished the first corner in fourth place, and in the end he had no chance to overtake and also no points.
The four rounds of the European Championship – after Debrecen in Gruzziaz in July, Güstrow in August and Chorzów in September – will be held in the same way. Each competitor competes against the others in five qualifying rounds, and after the points are added up, the two competitors with the best straights advance to the finals, while the competitors from third to sixth place advance to the battle of hope. The two best competitors of the latter will advance to the final round. The final result of the European Championship will be formed by adding up the results of the four race weekends – the best can get up to 18 points per round. By the way, all this also means that the visiting spectators can enjoy 22 races without restarting, and they can also enjoy the races in Debrecen.
By the way, the participants in the routine slag machine competition immediately took their seats with graphite pencils and program books, so that at the moment the competition started, they could know who had finished and how many points they had. The most fanatical people did it in such a way that you almost had the experience of Bingo. In Pereny, I also met companies whose members wrote down their tips in advance, so they also competed with each other to see who could hit more finishers and get a more accurate ranking…
As far as the race was concerned, the battle between the two sides was particularly intense after the first three laps of the midfield, and every position and overtaking was of great significance, which was also reflected in the reaction of the audience. The 10th race brought one of the most memorable moments of this battle: Michelsen jumped from last place to first place in half a lap, causing loud applause from the stands. The turn of events was clearly shown by the fact that after two full series, Lebedev was the only one who had not made any mistakes and was still without points in his third race.
Before the final round, the fifth, the Latvian was the only one who felt that he could be the starter in the Run of Hope even in the worst case scenario, while Madsen, Yevgenis Kostygovs and Magosi, who survived the terrible day, were the ones who lost their chances of mathematical advancement.
By the way, slag racing is one of the most environmentally friendly motorsports, as the organizers say they use all-natural vegetable oils as lubricants, while fuel consumption is almost minimal compared to other disciplines, thanks to the short distances. At the same time, the experience of gasoline vapor is pure, from the sound of the engines to the battle of the competitors, which from time to time are measured in millimeters, to the nervous grid girls in minimalist coats, obviously due to the high heat. In general, the afternoon had a kind of 90s aftertaste – not to mention the musical palette that filled the gaps between the races.
After twenty matches, Lebedevs and Dudek went directly to the final, where they were interested in the promising quartet of Maciej Janowski, Jakob Tossel, Kapell Worina and Michelson, who played from the reserve team due to injury at the weekend. Of the latter, the Polish Janowski and the Swedish Tossel were still able to advance to the final.
In the final, the Hungarian fans were almost unanimous in Lebedev’s favor, and Lebedev repaid it with a confident victory. However, the start was not smooth: due to Dudek’s slip, the race had to be restarted, during which a big battle between the Latvian and Janowski took place, but the first place – and the three European Championship points that come with it – could not be taken away from the favorite from Debrecen. Overall, Lebedev won the round confidently: 17 units out of a maximum of 18 were added to his name. Janowski finished second with 12 points, and Tosser rounded out the podium with 11 points.
In the end, Magosi got no points and only finished 16th in this game.
Follow Index on Facebook too!
[ad_2]
Source link
