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Baja Satu Mare cut short after crash involving leaders
The Baja Satu Mare, a joint race in Romania between the Hungarian and Romanian Cross-Country Rally Championships, was called off for the former after three stages following a wreck involving leaders Miroslav Zapletal and Lőrinc Mészáros Jr.
Both drivers, competing in Ford F-150 T1+ cars, collided after a navigation error sent one of them in the wrong direction, causing Zapletal to t-bone Mészáros in the driver’s side. Mészáros and co-driver Erik Pál got out of their vehicle without issue, but the former reported feeling pain in his left leg upon standing up and decided to go back to Hungary for evaluation. Zapletal and Marek Sýkora escaped injury, though their Ford suffered substantial front damage.
Prior to the accident, Zapletal had been leading the overall with a time of 48:15.9, just a minute and eleven seconds ahead of Mészáros. The latter set the best time during the first Selective Section on Friday while Zapletal was third; Mészáros’ M1 Motorsport team-mate Balázs Molnár was sandwiched between them but retired in SS3. The second stage, which was supposed to take place later Friday, was cancelled due to agricultural machinery blocking the course for many competitors.
The race continued for the Romanians, but was called for Hungarians due to the crash. The awards ceremony was also called off. Sebastian Paraipan won the rally on the Romanian side in his Can-Am Maverick R by nearly twenty-four minutes, continuing an impressive rally raid infancy for the SSV; Can-Ams swept the top five.
Mészáros was the defending Satu Mare winner when he narrowly beat Csucsu by just seven-tenths of a second and Zapletal by eleven seconds in 2023, and had finished third overall in the season-opening Desert Express 300 in March. His father is a businessman who served as the mayor of Felcsút in the 2010s; the elder Mészáros grew up with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and is thus a close member of his inner circle.
Zapletal, who has raced the Dakar Rally since 2007, regularly competes in the FIA World and European Baja Cups as well as domestic series in Central and Eastern Europe. He recently finished runner-up at the World Cup’s Baja Greece in late May.
Baja Satu Mare was the third round of the 2024 Hungarian Championship (TROB) and the second for the Romanian CNRR.
Overall results (CNRR)
| Finish | Number | Driver | Co-Driver | Vehicle | Class | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 299 | Sebastian Paraipan | Stefan Santa | Can-Am Maverick R | TH 4.1 | 2:52:06.0 | Leader |
| 2 | 240 | Georghe Lucian Barbu | Madalin Anghelescu | Can-Am Maverick X3 | TH 4.1 | 3:15:58.7 | + 23:52.7 |
| 3 | 208 | Matei Negulescu | Orlando Paul Barboi | Can-Am Maverick X3 | TH 4.1 | 3:26:04.1 | + 33:58.1 |
| 4 | 205 | GOnzalo Jara | Mihai Mustea | Can-Am Maverick X3 | TH 4.1 | 3:28:49.4 | + 36:43.4 |
| 5 | 222 | Calin Camarassan | Alexandru Catcauan | Can-Am Maverick X3 | TH 4.1 | 3:31:12.1 | + 39:06.1 |
| 6 | 314 | Adrian Comănescu | Cristian Cristea | Nissan Patrol | RR2 Auto | 4:00:22.7 | + 1:08:16.7 |
| 7 | 377 | Ovidiu Pasca | Radu Robu | Mitsubishi Pajero | RR2 Auto | 4:05:54.6 | + 1:13:48.6 |
| 8 | 116 | Cornel Stan | Andrei Marius Stan | Mitsubishi Montero | TH 1.1 B | 4:06:50.6 | + 1:14:44.6 |
| 9 | 305 | Bogdan Busuioc | Valentin Hard | Rally Raid UK Desert Warrior | RR2 Auto | 4:07:56.0 | + 1:15:50.0 |
| 10 | 312 | Daniel Danila | Elena Danila | Dacia Duster | RR2 Auto | 4:10:22.0 | + 1:18:16.0 |
| 11 | 133 | Ioan Pausan | Daniel Alin Nistor | Jeep Cherokee XJ | TH 1.1 B | 4:35:28.6 | + 1:43:22.6 |
| 12 | 121 | Stefan Banica | Andrei Benta | Land Rover Discovery 3 | TH 1.1 B | 4:46:35.3 | + 1:54:29.3 |
| 13 | 300 | Claudiu Moresan | Adrian-Lucian Lazor | Nissan Terrano | RR2 Auto | 8:17:18.6 | + 5:25:12.6 |
| DNF | 227 | Mihai Dospinescu | Catalin Iftemi | Polaris RZR Pro R | TH 4.2 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 28 | Michel Dumoulin | Paul Ionut Nyegre | Polaris Ranger XP 900 | TH 4.2 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 166 | Ioan Somodean | Paul Lucian Zaig | Isuzu D-Max | TH 1.1 B | DNF | N/A |
Promo
| Finish | Number | Driver | Co-Driver | Vehicle | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 413 | Adriana Dancu | Adrian Dancu | Dacia Duster | 3:06:31.5 | Leader |
| 2 | 410 | Alexandru Iordache | Mihaela Iordache | Dacia Duster | 3:25:42.0 | + 19:10.5 |
| 3 | 415 | Catalin Constantin Dumitru | Andreea Ciobanu | Dacia Duster | 4:49:49.4 | + 1:43:17.9 |
TROB running order prior to cancellation
| Finish | Number | Driver | Co-Driver | Team | Vehicle | Class | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 201 | Miroslav Zapletal | Marek Sýkora | Offroadsport | Ford F-150 EVO | T1+ | 48:15.9 | Leader |
| 2 | 202 | Lőrinc Mészáros | Erik Pál | M1 Motorsport | Ford F-150 EVO | T1+ | 49:27.4 | + 1:11.5 |
| 3 | 406 | Szilveszter Kéry | Barbara Anett Bartha | Mészáros M1 Autókereskedö Kft. | Can-Am Maverick X3 | T4 | 49:43.6 | + 1:27.7 |
| 4 | 405 | Zoltán Garamvölgyi | Antal Takács | Garilla Racing | Garilla X3 Evo | T4 | 50:03.6 | + 1:47.7 |
| 5 | 402 | Norbert Liszi | Dorottya Kapítány | M1 Motorsport | Can-Am Maverick X3 | SSV | 51:08.3 | + 2:52.4 |
| 6 | 901 | Attila Csató | Zoltán Hajas | Garilla Racing | Segway Villain SX10 | UP | 58:29.0 | + 10:13.1 |
| 7 | 301 | Richárd Bruzsa | Nikolett Szöke | Speedy Motorsport SE | Bedu Pro X3 | T3 | 59:18.5 | + 11:02.6 |
| 8 | 401 | Szabolcs Kollár | Ágnes Ruff | M1 Motorsport | Can-Am Maverick X3 | SSV | 59:32.5 | + 11:16.6 |
| 9 | 902 | Tomás Tóth | Emil Kiss | Tomás Tóth | Can-Am Maverick X3 | UP | 1:02:45.7 | + 14:29.8 |
| 10 | 404 | Szilárd Kánnár | Dávid Béres | Garilla Racing | Can-Am Maverick X3 | T4 | 2:43:55.9 | 15:40.0 |
| 11 | 407 | Norbert Németh | Pálma Németh | Garilla Racing | CAn-Am Maverick X3 | T4 | 5:27:21.0 | + 4:39:05.1 |
| DNF | 403 | Balázs Molnár | Gabriella Molnár | M1 Motorsport | M1 X3 | T4 | DNF | N/A |
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