Palik To Train Troops ‘Off-Road’

The idea of setting up an off-road rally team within the Hungarian Defence Forces was proposed in May 2007 for the first time, when Defence Minister Dr. Imre Szekeres visited the Hungarian troops serving in Afghanistan. László Palik accompanied the minister on this trip to transfer navigational skills and driving techniques used in off-road races to the soldiers, in order to be able to utilize this knowledge during their service on mission in case it is necessary. For Hungarian troops on mission – and mainly in Afghanistan – work in complicated terrains. In areas where roads are in very bad condition or do not even exist. Working, driving in such terrains demands a high degree of concentration and an excellent knowledge of driving techniques.

“This was our dream, and this dream has come true. This is why the team bears the official name of Hungarian Defence Forces Dreamteam" – said Imre Szekeres, who also spoke about how the Hungarian Defence Forces have always supported sports. Chiefly those sports which can also be called military games, such as for instance shooting, archery, pentathlon, and judo. Off-road rally has now ’joined’ these sports. The team that has been set up and named ’Cheetah’ will work within the framework of Honvéd Sports Association of Budapest as a new branch.

The task of preparing the Dreamteam was assigned to Palik Racing Team. At the Ócsa introduction of the team, László Palik said that the ’training’ of the selected troops will commence next January. They are to start their studies with theoretical, and later with practical off-road training. The team will learn about the rules and regulations of national and international off-road racing, furthermore the tasks to be completed before and during the races. Having mastered the basics, they are to enter races all year long, then in 2010, they will enter the Dakar rally together with the Palik Racing Team.

During the training period, the troops will be given theoretical and practical high-speed off-road and cross-country training at the Central Training Base of the Hungarian Defence Forces in Szentendre, the Hernád base of Palik Racing Team, and the Ócsa Training Base of Zrínyi Miklós University of National Defence. Dreamteam members will serve at the Central Training Base of the Hungarian Defence Forces in Szentendre during the nearly 18 months of the special off-road rally training and racing, and later they will continue their career at their ’mother corps’. Naturally, they will transfer their special knowledge acquired during training and racing to their comrades, this way their skills will be integrated to the military training system and the topics of preparation for missions.

Following the introduction, the defence minister and László Palik handed over the essential equipments of the team, that is the uniform coats and a Nissan Navara Pickup racecar. There is a cheetah decoration on the side of the all-terrain vehicle painted ‘military green’, and the 3,500 cc engine has a 280 horsepower output. Later László Palik took the defence minister for a ride in his own racecar and the team members also had the opportunity to experience what it feels like to ride in a racecar and sit next to a professional pilot. For them, this occasion was ‘baptism by fire’, since they hadn’t been in a racecar before.

It was very difficult to get into the team of six. The applicants completed a selection process which included several rounds. First they participated in a two-day assessment procedure in Szentendre where their linguistic skills, technical affinity, driving and communications skills were tested by the experts of the Hungarian Defence Forces and Palik Racing Team. Ten applicants could move on to the next stage, namely the physical, health, and psychological tests, where another four troops had failed.

For the first off-road rally team of the Hungarian Defence Forces, Warrant Officer Barnabás Honfi, Sergeant First Class László Szenáki, Sergeant First Class Zoltán Bálint, Staff Sergeant György Borisz, Corporal Ákos Gazdag, and Corporal Gábor Halmai have been selected. For a whole year, starting from January, all they will have to do is ’just’ to learn everything that is necessary for the operation of an off-road rally team.

Rally teams consist of five people. Two of them work in the racecar and three in the lorry following the pickup. In line with that, there is also a reserve racer among the Dreamteam members. Naturally, each of them have to be familiar with the tasks of each post, since it will be decided only in a year’s time who will enter the race and who will be the reserve contestant.

Of course, the Dreamteam will not dissolve after the first team completes the preparation process. Under the cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Defence and Palik Racing Team, every year they will provide place for six soldiers in the off-road rally team of the Hungarian Defence Forces.