2006

News

Lifestyle and Forma 3000

László Szász doesn’t slow in his fourties

The forests around the the track are waiting for the winter, but the
northern wind brings cold rain above the road. The box is almost
empty, just the truck and bus of the Szász Motoring are waiting for in
front of the exit. Inside the car-mechanics try to set the car of László
Szász. During their work we have enough time to have a chat with
László Szász who is 40 years old in this year, and after many cups got
the Knights Cross of the Hungarian Republic.

_ How many years did you spend near the car?
_ At least thirty. Supposedly I took the car in the garage sitting in my
father’s lap when I was five. I started to karting serisously when I was
fourteen.

_ You spent most of your life biting and dangerous competitions. Did
you have a lot hard moments?
_ The last ten years was really hard, because a lot of pilots died around
me. I know: you have to get in a car, and you also can get out of the
car.

_ One of your Spain collagues died not long ago…
_ The fate had been really next to us lately. The Spain Villarino, who we
started the year with, fall as big as his crash helmet broken, in spite of
this he had luck. Another pilot fall down through the barrier with 180
speed with his car in Germany. Luckily he also could get off the car. The
last was another Spain boy, who defeated me in the Tournament of the
Champions _ he was the third and I was the fourth _ but died with a
Forma 3000 during a competition…

_ Your lifestyle, which leads competition to competition, doesn’t good to
the traditional family life. How do you usually spend your Christmas
Eves?
_ I don’t know anything about this in this year, but most of the time we
just arrive in the feast and we don’t have enough time to prepare. Last
year I went to Japan from Spain, from Spain to Italy, and I arrived home
in the morning on the 24 th of December. The event go fast in that
time, but we have to do this. I don’t search the beauty of the family life,
because I know I sacrified it for the racing. That was the price. I trust,
that I will have old days and I won’t regret my decision. It helps me
that a lot of young people are around me. I consider them my family,
and this compensate me for the forced ride, which  still keeps me
behind bars.

_ On what depends the victory?
_   I learnt that the will is a big thing, and I don’t fear that I should
despair because of the passing years. Then comes a talented young
pilot, who needs attention. It will be a hard thing. I will see what does
the future hold.

_ What do you need that you always can get out of the car?
_ Good teammates, who know everything about the car. Money to
maintain the car, and you also can’t miss the testing, you have to
prepare for the competitions. You have to be relaxed, because you
need calmness to concentrate. The last thing is, which has caused a lot
of problem for me lately. This is complex progress, where everything
have to work well if you want a good achievement.

_ When do you thing a young pilot talented?
_ If somebody is fast, and has a good sense. The next is how long
does he stand the rate: for days, for months, for weeks or for years?
This is a more difficult question. The most important is the will. And the
fanatism.

_ And what about you? Are you fanatism?
_    I’m sure  some people would say this, if they saw somebody
walking alone in the garage in midnight and looking for the less peace
of the parts which is need to be faster with some tenth-second…


Next to the track with Krisztián Fekete

I don't really want to hurt my readers, but I can't remember it one
week after the season-closing weekend that: it was cool!

Although it didn't start well, because I could run just four round in the
Friday testing, and I did it with shabby tyres. Usually I need this time to
warming up my real speed, and I had planned that after the seventh
round I took the new tyres and go on! But, in deed I spent almost all
the race behind the Mansell-curve like a viewer, because a part of my
car had broken. I watched sad my opponents rounds, and I also
noticed in bad mood that I will start just from the fifth place on
Saturday morning.

Saturday morning! I'd rather call it daybreak, because the start was at
8 o'clock. But, soever we call it the main point is I still was asleep. In
spite of this I didn't started bad and, for God's shake I was waking
enough to relaise an other way next to my teammate, Bianca Steiner.
Of course she realised this, and frightened me, after that I took back
the gas and went to the other side. It was really succesful, so I could
use the exit of the box-street during the overtaking. I also could
overtook Péter Gyuricza. All that I had written here didn't take as long
as you read it, so it was really exciting! To tell you the truth I wouldn't
do it again…

Channoch, who was at the top of the field drove fast, but I _ as I
usually do _ push the gas so that I keep Bianca after me. In spite of
this she almost reached me sometimes. The result more than good: this
was the first occasion when the pilots of the Szász Motoring won the
race! I congratulate us!

I took part in the training in Saturday night, that I thought my Israelian
teammate won't start in the race in Sunday evening. As far as I know
the reason was a religious feast, because in his country the first of
October was a kind of national or religious feast, and he isn't allowed
to do things like motor racing.

So I drove really loosed, and I ran good times. I thought that if it goes
so well, I can push the gas more, for example I can do 1'46! Schuks!
The traffic was as big as in the Bécsi street on Monday morning… I
thought that I relax a little bit, and when the track will empty, I will do
the 1'46. But the display in my car started to flashing: LOW OIL
PRESSURE! So, I went back to the box and I told the fault to the car-
mechanics. After one week I can't tell was it a relaxing or annoying
feeling, when I knew that it was just a false alarming…

The Sunday-evening race was a plane PLEASURE, which ended a start-
finish victory. Now, in this place I should say thanks for them, who
helped me during the race, but I'd rather say just: THANKS FOR
EVERYBODY! Especially to my Fun Club, who believed and supported me
in all season. So, I offer my first victory a little bit to them…

Nowdays I'm thinking about the awards ceremony in November, where
I could take the cup for the best place during my carreer, for the E-
place in the National Speed Championship.

In the next season I try for do a better result with my team, the Szász
Motoring and my car, the Coloni-Nissan. I would like more luck and
more racing.

From the Skyguard-Heidelberg  Cup report

Written by Gábor Csiki

Let's continue with an interview the analysis of weekend of the
Skyguard Heildeberg Cup. We were talking about the background with
László Szász:

autogyorsasagi.hu: _ László, your foreign season had ended lately.
What are your results?

 _ My results didn't get better in the second part of the season, this is
the result of a difficult equation. Besides I don't really find my own
rhythm and we also have a lot of technical problems with the car. This
problems were more or less aerodynamic problems, and the reason
was a new wing which was fixed up the car during the season.
Moreover we also had to struggle for the right settings on all tracks,
and we couldn't always find them. Unfortunatly I can't use a
Hungaroring test result on a 10 kilometres-long, Italian, mountain
item… We had problems with the AVON-tyres: sometimes the wet-tyres
had bad quality, sometimes we didn't choose tyres well. At the end I
had the fifth place in the European Hill Cup, and I know, I should do it
better in the next year.

autogyorsasagi.hu: _ Let's talk a little bit about Bianca Steiner,
because you are her mentor. Although it seems you aren't the one… 

_ It is true, and it is a good thing. Thanks for Tamás Frank supporting
Bianca had a lot of publicity, which is necessary for an international
carreer. I appreciate very much the result, she did during the the F3000
training, and I can tell that Bianca drove my Formula Nippon one of our
private tests in the Hungaroring. And imagine: she was slower than me
just with 10-20 tenth! But we have to look to her, because we don't
want if Bianca's carreer becomes bad because of an early cathegory-
change. Probably she will stay between the Formula Renault 2000 in
the next year, and it seems, that the Italian championship would be
perfect to her.

_ autosgyorsasagi.hu: What is about the combination of the Szász
Motoring in the next year?

_ There will be a lot of changes. Krisztián Fekete probably continues
with the Coloni, and the Hungarian races would be important also to
Bianca. Hopefully she could take part in them between her busy,
foreign  programmes. A yellow Tom'S-Toyota is still free, or it is sold.
Now I have to offer on it, one of them from Krisztián, who really want
his brother to sit in the car. The other offer is from Béla Nyitrai. Now I
could say that the car will be those, who bring the money faster.

_ autosgyorsasagi: At the end we would like to know what will you do
out of the season?

_ I will relax and work! I deal in different form-cars, which comes from
Japan. Now I bring a Formula 3000 car to the country, which was made
in 1991, and it ran very few kilometres. It is without engine. The order
is Kálmán Bódis, who has big plans with this car.    


Bianca Steiner, who did her first victory in the speed race of the
National Championship, made a great leap forward. In the last days,
first in her life she drove a real Formula 3000 car during sixty rounds of
the Italian speed race.

She started with the Lola B02/50 type of the Coloni Motorssport’s car,
and the clock stopped by 1’07.54  in her best rounds. Anyway we could
see cars like this in the rounds of the Material Cup . The team and Miss
Steiner appreciated this result very much:

_ I spent this day getting acquinted with the track and the car, which
differs from all my previous cars. First I made some rounds with that
Formula Junior 1.6, which I drove in some rounds of the Italian
Championship. I’m very glad, because I didn’t make bigger mistake
during the sixty rounds. I’m looking forward to the next testing
possibility where I can compete with other Formula 3000 pilots.

With this result the pilot of the Szász Motorsport  stepped into the
shoes of her compatriot: Bernhard Auinger, Norbert Siedler, Patrick
Friesacher and Andreas Zuber (some of them is or was Formula 3000
pilot).

The Coloni Motorsport verified that they have been following attention
the career of the Austrian girl for years, and they try to ensure her
testing possibility again.



Too long…


„The race kilometres are too little” _ say the scandalizing of the hill car
racing. However the opposite of this statement soured the life of the
Hungarian László Szász, in the two Italian rounds of the Hill European
Championship. The 56 th hill race in Trento Bondone was held on the 1
st and 2 nd of July, and it was extremly long with it’s 17.3 kilometres.
Because of this the Sunday-results made of just one run. Moreover the
Hungarian pilot didn’t competed here in the previous years, because
there wasn’t allowed the performing of the Forma 3000 cars.  We
asked for the strategy of László Szász:
_ First I asked for the opinion of József Cserkúti, who took part
regularly in Trento races in the eighties. He suggested me try to divide
the track three parts, so I could learn 95 percent of the track. That’s
why I should have been there earlier, but unfortunatly I could arrive
there just on Thursday because of my business. I had practised with
my civil car on the track for two days, from 5 am till 8 am, and in the
late-evenings. In spite of this I wasn’t able to learn every curves.
Moreover, once my practising almost came to bad end, because I
started a curve much more sweeper as I should have. But, this is the
result, when somebody „wakes-up” late. You have see the French
championship of the last year, Lionel Regals achievement. He already
practised on the Trento serpentines on Tuesday, so he came the third
in the absolute cathegory at the end of the race. Unfortunatly I got just
the 22 nd place. Otherwise Lionel also tried this track first, in spite of
this he won the cathegory, and gave more than 1 minutes.

The circumstances in Rieti were similar to the previous, and László
Szász could arrive there also on Thursday because of his engangement
in Italy. That’s why, he couldn’t learn the 15 kilometer long, curlicued
track, furthermore the average speed of the Rieti track is more bigger
than in Trento. But the fate ordained that tha Hungarian pilot didn’t
start in the Sunday round :

_ It was raining hard on an  eight kilometer long part of the track, and
the sun was shining on the other part of the track. Some pilots started
with rainy tyres, but they were slower with 10 seconds. The second
part of the field weren’t allowed to start, because the referees deleted
the round, so I also couldn’t start. I hope I have more luck in Pozsony
two weeks after, but I think it won’t help this bad season. In spite of
this I would be very happy if I had a stage-place…

Resoults:
European Championship 6 th round, Trento, Italy

1. Faggioli Simone (Osella) 10.00.78
2. Irlando Pasquale (Osella) 10.06.29
3. Regal Lionel (Reynard) 10.06.98
4. Cinelli Franco (Osella) 10.12.72
5. Regosa Giulio (Lola) 10.19.47
...
22. Szász László 11.11.31

European Championship, 7 th round, Rieti, Italy

1. Zardo Denny (Osella) 6.01.84
2. Iaquinta Rosario (Osella) + 3.06
3. Bormolini Fausto (Osella) + 3.91
4. Merli Cristian (Osella) + 4.14
5. Regosa Giulio (Osella) ! 4.71
László Szász (Reynard) without time



Forma 3 Test on the Hungaroring!


It was an unusual experience for Norbert Michelisz and Norbert Kiss
from the Suzuki and Clio team, that they had the opportunity to try a
2000 cubic centimetre, Forma 3 Coloni Nissan car with Bianca Steiner on
the Hungaroring.

The possibility of the test came up first in the speed round of the
Hungagoring in May. The aim was to find a talented pilot, who can
compete in the Forma 1 after the Hungarian Zsolt Baumgartner.

The intervention of Mr. Tamás Frank, the supporting of the Coloni team
the cars was guaranteed by the Szász Motorsport and Channoch
Nissany, and they gave the informations to the competitors too.
Moreover they ensured opponents, because the Brasil Lucas Di Grassi
and the Italian Enrico Toccacelo also tested there. Lucas Di Grassi
prepares his Forma 1 carreer by the Renault team, Enrico Toccacelo
earlier won more round in the F 3000. The young pilots correlated their
achievements to the two experienced pilots, and to Channoch Nissany,
who also raced in Hungarian colours. 

Bianca Steiner had a cushy time, because she has already known forma-
cars well. The Austrian girl has been racing in the Italian Championship
for 2 years. In the last year she started with her 1,6 car, but in  this
year she starts with her two-liter Renault. She has run around 8000
kilometres during her carreer in contrast with Norbi’s achievement, who
didn’t know well the vehicle.
 The best time of the test:

Bianca Steiner:       1:47’167
Enrico Toccacelo:   1:44’249
Channoch Nissany:  1:46’998
Kiss Norbert:            1:47’930
Michelisz Norbert:    1:49’210

The Israeli Channoch Nissany from the Szász Motorsport won the
Hungarian Track race with perceft time. The young and talented Bianca
Steiner has a third and a fourth place, and Krisztián Fekete came the
third. László Szász also started in this race testing a Coloni-car, but he
interrupted the race  after some rounds.

_ Our team didn’t take part of the testing-day on Thursday before the
Material Cup, because our car needed a lot of settings. The car-
mechanic had to repair my car too, which Angela Vilarino started  a
short round on the hill track in Trier with. So, I took the adventage of
the freetime, and I walked next to the Mansell-curve of the track to
study my opponent’s technic. To tell you the truth I was surprised how
spectacular was that. First in my life I watched the events near by the
track and I had to say it was very eerie. Man pass through this in an
other way behind the cockpit. Maybe it sounds unbelievable, but I
haven’t thought earlier  the gradient could be so high-pitched like
before the Mansell-curve.
    
On Friday I hadn not enough time to star-gazing. I ran a 1’48.840 time
in the test with a shubby, 45-50 round tyre. My result was the same
like Balázs Pödör, and in this case that pilot can starts first, who
reached this time-result first during the test. It was me, so it proved me
that we had found the right way. Moreover, I waited that I can keep my
second place behind Channoch Nissany  during the 14 round.
Unfortunatly I couldn’t, and it depend more or less on me. I wasn’t
agressiv enough at the end of the track, and realised late that Pödör
wanted to overtake. At the beginning of the home straight I saw in the
mirror that the distance became long between me and the Renault. At
the end of the brake-distance I realised him just when he was next to
me.  I’m still very angry because of this. The truth is that I haven’t been
bullet-headed enough at this point of the track, since I hit with László
Eszenyi in the Material Cup. It’s curiosity, that by the Szász Motorsport
we use health-telemetria. It means that I, Bianca and Channoch wear
surgical instruments like EKG during the racings. So, my pulse  was
200 , when Pödör overtook me…

As we talking about health, I would like to say thanks for Zoltán Pál,
who is a sport-doctor. After his advices I feel much better and more fit,
I smoke less and lighter cigarettes and I drink less coffe a day.

My time was 1’48 again in the Sunday round with the tyres I used on
the previous day. Pödör ran 1’49. So everything was perfect to a good
round: second start, nice weather and the car was also good. It was
percfect till the motor didn’t go wrong. First I thought that it is out of
fuel, and I went to the box. There turned out that the benzin pump
went wrong, and I had to finish the race. The team and László Szász
were sad, but I say that it belongs to the technical sports. In spite of
this I’m very proud the reliability of the Coloni-Nissan, because it has
happened to me first since the last one and a half year.  

So I had to minus this round in the year, but the 8 points I left on
Sunday annoy me less than the 3 points on Saturday. In  spite of this
the Material was a very good weekend, and the Szász Motorsport lag
behind the BOVI with just half point in the team competition. I hope I
can race well in the Mátra Hill Championship!

Krisztián Fekete




It is painful…


Text by Gábor Csiki

Painful… _ temporarly we can’t find a better word for László Szász’s
international achievement. This expression is not our opinion, it was
said by László Szász, who talked about his races after he had arrived
the fifth run of the Hill European Championship. Unfortunatly he couldn’t
tell so much about the run, which was organised next to Trier,
Germany, on a 3, 7 kilometer long track. We asked him about this
Friday, in the Material Cup.

_ The weather was beautiful all weekend, in spite of this I felt like in
Rechberg, on the opening of the season. I was sad again because of
the accident of my teammate. The Spain Ingo Martinez tumbled over,
and it had a very bad effect on us, in spite of that he got off the car
without injuries. After we, the competitors examined the car, we
suspects, the changes which were done on his car, caused the
accident. This changes were done because his car was an old type
Forma 3000 model, and it was the reason that the Italian Regosa
caveated against him in Fito. I was angry, that’s why I missed the two
training on Saturday. I felt worse after the accident of my team mate,
Angela Vilarino. Because of this we had to service her white Coloni all
night.    

With the short track there were three round on Sunday. I came the
sixth in the first round. I wasn’t satisfied, so we set my car. In spite of
this I had a worse time in the second round. Finally I absolutly lost my
mood, but after a second setting I could finish within 1'40 in the third
round. It is true, that my opponents did it in the first round… 

Unfortunatly my season in this year is very bad. I think I know the
reason of this: we aren't OK either phisically, and menthally. Especially
I'm not OK, and I know, the next rounds will be harder…

So, this rounds will be the first two weekends of July, in Rieti and
Trento, Italy. We wish more endurance and potency to László Szász
and his team for the rest of the Championship!


A very hard competition and good possibility waited for László Szász in
the Material Cup. Earlier we  thought that  we can't support a
Hungarian pilot in the field of the Euro 3000 competition. Finally the
good news arrived before Friday, from the manager of the team,
Ramóna László. She said that a Lola B99 car had become free in the
box of the Coloni team, and the founder of the team, Enzo Coloni asked
László Szász to start with the car in the race.

During his carreer the Hungarian pilot sweared on the Reynard-type
car. This was the first time he could try one of the produces of the Eric
Broadley factory. This car works also the similar 460 LE Zytek engine
like László's Formula Nippon car (but this Nippon is a bit stronger, it
works with 500 LE). The other curiosity in this testing is that László
Szász could know a little bit about the car of his opponents, Giulio
Regosa and Fausto Bormolini who have similar vehicle. Unfortunatly the
Hungarian pilot had to interrupt both training because of a technical
problem …