That is not to malign this pleasant and unassuming country, but merely to question its relevance in the world of Formula One. For example, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy - all are countries with a long and illustrious history of Motor Racing feats and achievments. Australia have provided numerous world-class players, America is steeped in Automobile lore, even Japan can lay claim to having been instrumental in the development of the motor-car. Bahrain, China, Malaysia, well, important financial markets in an increasingly costly pursuit. But Hungary? Fifty-five years of Grand Prix history and Hungary has but one name on the list: Zsolt Baumgartner.
However, a trip back down memory lane and the Hungarians have rather more to be proud of.
It is 1906, and motor-car fever is sweeping the world. Some enterprising types in France, a hotbed of Automobile production, have hit upon the idea of amalgamating all the minor races and sprints that are taking place across Europe and presenting one major race: so was born the 'Grand Prix'. And at the culmination of this epic 750 mile race, the victor was a young engineer driving a factory Renault; a Hungarian, no less, by the name of Ferenc Szisz.
Szisz was no stranger to racing. As an engineering apprentice at the works of Louis and Marcel Renault, two of the pioneers of early motoring, he had been enlisted as riding mechanic on Louis' racing outings. After Marcel's death on the calamitous Paris-Madrid-Paris race in 1903, young Ferenc found himself promoted to driver, and achieved some success.
He finished fifth in the esteemed 'Gordon Bennet' trophy race in France in 1905 (a fore-runner of the upcoming A1GP series - drivers scored points for their country), and fifth in the prestigious 'Vanderbilt Cup' held on Long Island in the same year, both times driving works Renault. 1906 saw the aforementioned first Grand Prix and, with our hero victorious, his name entered the record books for ever. The win was no mean feat; that he beat the great Felice Nazzaro, undoubtedly the Michael Schumacher of turn of the century racing, was something to be proud of.
The next year Szisz would again ride a works Renault in the French Grand Prix, this time to second behind Nazzaro's factory FIAT, but the following years saw economic downturn, and the extravagant cost of Motor Racing would result in less and less races. Ferenc Szisz drove his final race in France in 1914, retiring a friends Alda, a marque long since forgotten. He died in February, 1944.
Hungary next appears on the Grand Prix radar in 1936, with a one off race on a hastily assembled 3 mile long circuit won by the legendary Tazio Nuvolari in his works Alfa Romeo from Auto Union wonder-boy Bernd Rosemeyer, and then the country disappears for fifty years.
In the 1980's, Bernie Ecclestone was looking to expand his travelling circus to include a race behind the 'Iron Curtain'. With attempts at street races in Moscow and St Petersburg coming to nothing, the Hungarians presented him with a more likely option, and so the Hungaroring was born.
The popularity of the race is largely due to its location; Hungary is easily accessed by those from Germany, Italy, Austria and the rest of Eurpoe, and is hence a popular
'away' race. The first event, in 1986, was won by Nelson Piquet in his Williams, and he repeated that success on the way to the World Championship the following year.
The race is perhaps best remembered as the place where Nigel Mansell pulled a fabulous overtaking manouvre on one Ayrton Senna in 1989, the Ferrari favoutrite having started from a lowly grid position only to fight back memorably to win. Or the 1990 race where Senna memorably shunted Alessandro Nannini's Benetton out of the race, leaving Thierry Boutsen to drive serenely to victory for Williams.
In fact, since Boutsen's well deserved win, the roll-call of Hungarian GP winners reads as a list of World Champions with a couple of exceptions. Senna won twice, Damon Hill twice, Jacques Villeneuve twice, Mika Hakkinen twice and Michael Schumacher four times. The exceptions are Rubens Barrichello who won by a whisker in 2002, and a certain Fernando Alonso who, in winning commandingly in 2003, memorably lapped the hitherto dominant Ferrari of Schumacher.
So we come to 2005, one year shy of a century on from when Ferenc Szisz took that hard earned victory in France, and with no Zsolt Baumgartner to fly the local flag this time around. Hungary has, over the years provided two types of race: the mundane, or the exciting, never in between. We shall hope for the latter this time around.
One last point of interest; while researching the life of Ferenc Szisz, from his birth (September 20th, 1873 in an anonymous village named Szeghalom in the former Austro-Hungarian empire) through to his death (February 21st, 1944, buried in the church cemetry at Auffargis, near Paris) I came across a curiosity. A rival website of this, one known for its encyclopaedic content, gives a different ending to the life of this esteemed fellow. They say that he returned to Hungary to a village named Tiszanszetimre, where he 'lived quietly on a Renault pension until his death in 1970'!
My question is: if this is so, just who is buried alongside his wife at Auffargis? And likewise, if it is him in that grave, who was drawing his pension for those 26 years?
Written by 3 on Tue, 26 Jul 2005 12:27:32
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