At the traditional Debrecen Grand Prix on August 20, representatives of eleven nations compete against each other. A press conference on the details was held on August 16, 2023 by László Papp, the mayor of the city of Debrecen, Norbert Baráth, the managing director of SpeedWolf Sportsorganizer Kft., and Péter Szabó, the managing director of Schaeffler FAG.
“One of the technical sports with a great tradition is the cinder bike in Debrecen,” said Mayor László Papp. “If a competition can be kept alive for almost 50 years thanks to the competitors, fans and supporters, then we can safely say that the foundations of that sport are solid.”
László Papp pointed out the good cooperation with SpeedWolf Debrecen and highlighted: the club is a good owner of the facility and they have a very promising vision for the future.
In addition, he pointed out that there are important sponsors for the slag engine sport, because in addition to Schaeffler FAG, BMW has also joined the circle of sponsors this year.
With the transformation of the city’s economy, it is hoped that dirt bike sports will be able to bring a lot of joy to the citizens of Debrecen under even better conditions and with an even larger circle of fans.
László Papp added: the municipality undertook the awarding of the winners of the Debrecen Grand Prix. In addition to Herend porcelain goblets, the city provides a total of one million forints to the best. In addition, the city decided this week on ten million forints extra support for SpeedWolf Debrecen, for the development of the dirt bike sport.
Norbert Baráth, managing director of Speedwolf Sports organizer Nonprofit Kft., said: Sixteen iron-shoe competitors from eleven nations will start at the 48th Debrecen Grand Prix.
Advance ticket purchases show that there is more interest in the competition than ever before, and it is expected to be a full house at the Perényi Pál Stadium.
“Last year’s grand prix winner, Niels Kristian Iversen, five-time Danish GP winner and four-time team world champion, will start. Based on the chances, Iversen can be pushed from the Debrecen throne by several people. One of the biggest favorites is Antonio Lindback, known as the Rio Rakéta. The classic Swede won the GP Grand Prix three times and became team world champion twice. Vadim Tarasenko, who was born in Russia but already has Polish citizenship, is coming to Debrecen as a prospect. In addition to them, the talents of the emerging generation can squeeze the great prospects.” – emphasized Norbert Baráth.
Regarding the additional programs, he said that it is worth arriving at the Perényi Pál Stadium as early as 2:30 p.m., as you can meet the competitors up close and ask for their autographs, and you can also watch the SpeedWolf Juniors demonstration ride. The two great legends of Debrecen, Zoltán Adorján and Sándor Tihanyi, are preparing for the carnival competition with a unique surprise race.
Péter Szabó, the managing director of Schaeffler FAG, which supports the event, emphasized that this is a very important event for the region, and it is gratifying that they can support a competition with such a long tradition. It can be seen that the competition is improving every year, which is why they support the event. In addition to supporting the club and the competition, they also provide special sponsorship to one of the greatest talents, Zoltán Lovas. Péter Szabó added: the company also provides entry tickets for this competition for its interested employees, and every guest is treated to a gift upon entry.
The first race of the 48th Debrecen Grand Prix will start on August 20, 2023, at 4:15 p.m. Further information and the possibility to buy tickets can be found on the website www.speedwolf.hu.
Polish victory at the Debrecen slag engine European Championship qualification
(Debrecen City Hall)
