BME Veloce Corse

As you all know, MotoGP will come to Hungary in 2025, but what is not as well-known is, that this is a return after 33 years. There were 2 Hungarian MotoGP events in the past, 1990 and 1992, both at the famous Hungaroring. The 2025 event will be hosted at Balaton Park Circuit, which is a new track, right next to Lake Balaton, Hungary’s hidden gem of sea.

In relation to it’s size Hungary boasts a respectable history within motorsports and MotoGP. There were numerous riders, such as Puhony Nándor, Szabó László, Kurucz György, Drapál János, Tóth Imre and the most famous and the only Hungarian Champion, Talmácsi Gábor. This is the perfect time to ponder upon the beauty of Talmácsi’s Bancaja Aprilia:

This list is soon to be updated, numerous young stars have showcased their talents, such as Görbe Soma (2020 NTC winner), Varga Tibor (newest set piece in MotoE) and Farkas Kevin (Red Bull Rookies Cup).

1990 September 2

This is where it all started. The penultimate round of 1990 at the Hungaroring, which hosted F1 races before, but was never the home of the ungodly 2T 500cc monsters, that the old-heads sing ballads about.

As the race started, Wayne Rainey took the lead, which was a surprise to no one, as he was already crowned as the champion that year, after him Wayne Rainey gets the start, then it’s Eddie Lawson, Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan. A lot of riders complained about the track, and to be honest they were right. The Hungaroring was designed for cars, not bikes. Darrel Eastlake and Barry Sheene (the commentators) were quick to point out, that the riders’ complaints, that the acceleration out of some corners results in chattering were right. Even more frightening were the curbs, the track’s curbs were a huge safety hazard, because of their height, sadly Randy Mamola showcased this in the first lap. He lost control of the bike, coming out of a corner, but had no chance regaining it, before dunking the Cagiva in the sand partly due to the unusual curb. Sadly, this was the last race for him in 90’, as Cagiva wouldn’t race in Australia and they wouldn’t let Randy out of their contract either.

From the third lap it was clear that this circuit benefited one rider’s skillset in particular: a young Mick Doohan, who looked unstoppable on the Rothmans NSR, maybe because the fast corners at Hungaroring matched in style with Australian tracks. He won the race easily (25 sec gap), after Rainey had mechanical problems, Yamaha engineers were testing new engine parts for the 91’ season, as Rainey already won in 90’ (the only time this season, that Rainey wasn’t on the podium… crazy). This was Mick’s maiden 500cc win.

1992 July 12

This season is a heartbreak for the Mick Doohan fans. The Aussie dominated from the get go, but had a horrendous crash in the qualifying of the Dutch TT. This crash altered not just his season, but his whole career.

He suffered a double spiral fracture, which would have been a lot of time to heal, so he came up with an alternative: screw his bones together. This way he could have started the Hungarian GP, because there was a two-week rest before the 9th round. This would all have been nice, but the Dutch surgeons wouldn’t listen to Claudio Costa and caused Doohan bad blood circulation resulting in a nasty infection. The Dutch surgeons almost amputated his leg, so Claudio Costa had to kidnap Mick (and Kevin Schwantz) to save his leg and his LIFE. After Mick was sent to Italy tests showed his blood was so thin it caused great danger to his vital organs. Kevin Schwantz also had a wrist injury, but he could race in a “thin cast”… the endurance of these guys are ungodly.

Back to Hungary: the conditions were harsh, the race was red flagged once, but 30 minutes later the race was restarted. Lawson took the best start I have ever seen, left everyone in the dust. The rainy weather amplified the before-mentioned critical faults of this circuit. Everyone went gentle of the throttle and the brakes, because even after 7 laps there was only partial dry path. These conditions favoured Randy Mamola and Wayne Rainey, mysteriously after the stellar start Eddie Lawson disappeared compared to the front two. As the race went on and the track cleared, Lawson gained speed, because he gambled big, and went with cut slicks on the rear.

And 37,6 seconds was astronomical even back then, it was clear that if Lawson can complete this comeback it would be one of the most prominent ever. By the time the riders started pitting to change bikes Eddie gained momentum and caught up to the top three. Funny enough the first person to pit had a one man crew and only one bike, so the poor lad started to literally change tires while the rider waited beside him. With his gamble playing out Lawson stormed through everyone and what may be his most special, and Cagiva’s first ever, he won.

The underlying motivation of these events had great importance too, in 89’, the communist leading party resigned in Hungary. Hosting these two races was a significant step in the motorsports world to ease the political tension. During the height of the Eastern Block, a west-oriented sport like this would have been unheard of. And for those of you saying that GPs were held in Rijeka way before Hungary, you are right, but the Tito led Yugoslavia was much more independent.

Side-note: This is a personal matter to me, I am a proud Hungarian fan. I am delighted that the highest rank of the sport will return, because I believe there are more motorcycle enthusiast than people would think. I heard rumours about MotoGP only aiming for 50 000 in attendance, which is criminally low, however I hope that we can exceed expectations and in return get a stellar race to enjoy. I will be there for sure…