The event was ’only’ part of the National Championship with invited participants from the European Union. For many long years, this was the first event in our country, where Hungarian teams could finally compete with racers coming from abroad!

This tradition-setting event was followed by unexpected interest and great success. Six teams coming from three countries joined the Hungarian racers in the exciting competition, which was running on the splendid tracks of Bakony, challenging both for humans and technology. We are really proud that at the Annual Championship Awards HunGarian Baja 2004 won the Race of the Year title, based on the votes of the National Automobile Sport Federation of Hungary and the racing teams.

Then we thought even bigger: in 2005 – with the permission of FIA – HunGarian Baja appeared in the race calendar as a full right international event, as part of the Hungarian, Slovakian and Czech Championship and as an international motor and quad race.

In August, 2006 a record-making number of participants warmed up the engines at the prologue at Jutaspuszta, close to Veszprém: 42 cars, 1 truck, 9 motors and 8 quads.  The area is originally a military practice zone, and has remarkable tracks for cross-country rally, and it is also suitable for creating hundreds of kilometers of selective stages on it.

In 2006, surpassing all previous expectations, we had such a great success with the event, that we set a new goal for ourselves:

Becoming part of the Baja-series (Print World Cup) in 2008!

First, we had to stand as a candidate at FIA, consequently the race of 2007 became officially an open international FIA candidate run, where the ones reaching the podium could gain international priority. Meanwhile, the number of motor racers was marching up quickly, and the quad race obtained the European Championship title. The number of participants has gone up substantially and reached 75. The enormous effort we put in and the lessons learnt finally brought the desired result and the Swedish Observer delegated by FIA reported very highly about the event. In October the World Comitee of FIA accepted HunGarian Baja of 2008 as the fourth event of the Baja Sprint World Cup series. The above mentioned aim was reached: HunGarian Baja became the second most prestigous automobile and motorsport event after the Formula 1 race in Hungary, with great statuses such as: Automobile Baja Sprint World Cup, Quad Baja European Championship, Motor Baja European Championship, Czech, Slovakian and Hungarian National Cross-Country Rally Championship.

2008 started with a dissappointing piece of news: the Dakar rally was cancelled. To make up for the loss, the Central European Rally was organised in Hungary, making use of the tracks, on which the HunGarian Baja was running too. After CER, the preparation for the first Cross-country Rally Sprint World Cup has started. Ont he start ceremony of the 22nd of August, more than 110 vehicles were present, ready to conquer the tracks of more than 700 km. The result was fantastic: we could already celebrate the new World Champions Nasser Al-Attiyah and Tina Thörner before the Portuguese race, thanks to their outstanding performance. Moreover, László Palik and Gábor Darázsi could be more than happy for their National Champion title.

2009 brought an unexpected turn into the life of HunGarian Baja. The event was organized with the same professionalism and number of participants, but one thing has changed… The Ministry of Environmental Protection decided to involve a great part of the tracks in the Natura 2000 Programme. Consequently the race took part in such a small area, that although it was still enjoyable, we decided to relocate the race as of this year.

In 2010 with this unfortunate but rational decision we bring some more life to the event. We would like to not only maintain the standards of the race but even elevate it, near the capital, in the county of Pest.   The new locations are very welcoming towards the biggest cross-country rally race of Central-Europe. We also plan to organise an outstanding special start ceremony in the heart of Budapest. Everything is ideal for a well-organized race: the well-built service area, an excellent building for the Race Office, a spectacular stage near the service area, easily accessible points for the spectators, a fantastic landscape and last but not least the professional and experienced organizing team.