At the Nyirád Racing Center, every race day is a Women’s Day, not just on the official International Women’s Day. No Rallycross World Championship, European Championship, Hungarian Championship, or Autocross European Championship event can take place without women. In fact, the number of women involved in organizing these events has even increased compared to previous years.

One of the owners of the Nyirád track, Móni Kárai, handles various requests with endless patience and is also responsible for ticket sales alongside Ági Erdélyi.

In 2022, there were 13 female race officials at the European and World Championship rounds in Nyirád; in 2023, there were 16, and last year, this number rose to 17, making up a third of the event’s official staff. No other racing venue in the world has such a high percentage of female officials. Among them are names like Móni Ivicz, Melinda Meszes-Tóth, Gabi Migály, and Eszter Tamás, all of whom have years or even decades of experience, making them indispensable for hosting international events in Hungary.

The starting grid at Nyirád is also unique in the international motorsport calendar. Since the return of the FIA European Rallycross Championship in 2022, only female start marshals have managed the start procedures—a tradition upheld when the FIA World Rallycross Championship debuted in Hungary last year. All starting procedures are handled exclusively by female officials, led by Ágnes Kozma, honoured two-times by the MNASZ (Hungarian Motorsport Association) “Marshal of the Year” award.

The Stewards’ panel of the double world championship event also consisted entirely of women. The Chairperson of the Stewards, Cheryl Lynch from the UK, is a member of the British Motorsports Association. The FIA’s designated international Steward was Linda Medne from Latvia, who also serves as General Secretary of the Latvian Autosport Federation. The national Steward role was filled by Boglárka Budai, a former member of the FIA Off-Road Commission. In her free time, she enthusiastically guides FIA executives during race weekends. Her past experience as an organizer is invaluable, as she led the team that won the “Event of the Year” award for the 2012 European Championship round, as voted by the FIA Off-Road Commission. The Secretary to the Stewards of the debut World Championship event was Márti Zubai, who had previously excelled as a Competitors’ Liaison Officer at Nyirád events.

Speaking of Competitors’ Liaison Officers, this team was also composed exclusively of women. Dr. Kata Tóth has played this role for many years at Hungarian Rallycross events. It’s almost an exaggeration to say that if someone doesn’t know her, or if she doesn’t know them, they’ve never been involved in the sport. At the World Championship round, Zsuzsi Mészáros worked in the Spotters’ Tower. She also travels the world with Chronomoto, the official timing partner of the FIA World and European Rallycross Championships. The third member of the team was the ever-smiling Ivette Bozsó, who, like her colleagues, has significant experience and has been part of various FIA committees alongside Márti Zubai and Bogi Budai. Not just Ivette, but the entire team had even wider smiles by the end of the World Championship round, as they received high appreciation from the FIA, the Race Promoter, and the Stewards as well.

No race or office—specifically, no race office—would function without the kindness of Jenny Kárai, whose work is supported by Andrea Gárdián, a key member of the media team that received top ratings from both the FIA and the event promoter over the past two years. Kata Somogyi managed the security team during the World Championship round, while Anita Boros-Józsa was responsible for timing at the national championship events.

After a long break, the FIA Autocross European Championship returned to the Nyirád Racing Center last year, with nearly the same team working on the event. While some positions changed slightly, this posed no issue, as the well-coordinated team knew their roles and supported one another seamlessly.

A key figure in the preparation, organization, and execution of the races is Orsi Gyuris. In the year of the FIA European Rallycross Championship’s return, she humbly referred to herself as the Secretary of the Event. However, her energy, determination, decisiveness, and, of course, the track owners' decision played a crucial role in elevating the Nyirád event to a World Championship round within two years. This year, the organizer of the World and European Championship rounds set out with the goal of making the Nyirád Racing Center’s event even better than last year.

Last but not least, in the past year, the FIA’s "Action of the Year" award was won by the FIA World Rallycross Championship’s only female driver, Klara Andersson. She earned this prestigious title with a maneuver executed precisely at the Nyirád event. As a Women’s Day surprise—but not just for women—we interviewed the Swedish CE Dealer Team driver.

In 2024, you won the FIA Action of the Year vote by coming back from the Joker lap and overtaking at Nyirad. It was a very impressive manoeuvre from the outside, how did you feel about it from the inside? What did you think when you found out you were the winner of the vote?

- It was such an intense moment! We had rain tires on in the final and I felt quite quickly that it was more tricky to drive with those, so I knew we had to play the strategy with the defense and joker call perfectly, so when Timmy followed me into the joker and I got out ahead of Kevin I was really happy! I was really honured to win the FIA Action of the Year award! The competition was really tough so I'm very thankful to everyone who voted for me!

Luckily, there are many women racing in different categories around the world nowadays, but at World Championship level there are still very few of you. How difficult was your road to the top rallycross category? What qualities do you think it took to get there? Where can you improve as a woman once you reach a World Championship category?

- My childhood dream was always to drive in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, but the journey there was not easy, so when I got the call from CE Dealer Team I was incredibly thankful. I had just won the Swedish Rallycross Championship and done two good races in RX2e, which was the thing that put me on the radar for them. As we all know budget and funding is extremely hard in motorsport, so without the opportunity from Volvo CE, PWR and everyone involved it would have been incredibly hard to make it there. It shows that miracles do happen and you just need to keep working hard, keep being passionate and take every chance you get! My experience is still far less than my competitors, and I have a lot to learn still, but I'm really pleased with the progress we have made together with the team and I feel more confident than ever.

You work with a lot of men either on the team or within the championship, who seem to treat you as an absolute equal on the track. However, how prejudiced are they with you off the track, what kind of reactions have you had? How much are you looked at as a woman?

- Being a woman in a male dominated sport can be hard sometimes, with a lot of prejudice from people, but I strongly believe we have showed that the gender doesn't matter, it's all about hard work, dedication, skill and having a strong team around you. I have always felt respect from my competitors and people in the industry, although people from the outside will always have opinions and that's something I have learnt to deal with.

In Nyirad there are a lot of women working in different areas, in 2024 the Stewards were all women, and the start marshals were all women, but the Drivers’ Liaison Officers were also all women. Did you catched this? Whether informally or formally, did any of them come across to you?

- Yes I love seeing not only female drivers but also women working in all aspects of motorsport like mechanics, officials, stewards etc. It's great to see that the sport is striving towards more inclusivity!

What message would you give to young girls about why they should choose motorsport, whether as a driver or as a professional?

- I think the most important factor is to make young girls feel welcome to pursue any dream within motorsport even if it is a male dominated sport. Motorsport is one of few sports where men and women can compete on equal terms, which I think is amazing!