30 degree heat

Saturday night in Slovakia paddock

The amazing weather has continued and it is 1000 hours, on Monday, when we get to the circuit to collect the truck and drive to the Hungaroring, in Hungary. One truck has had problems with the clutch. Before he can move, he has to bleed the air which is accumulating in the system. A major irritation and no clear evidence of what is causing it.
A big problem happened for us the night before. When we had just arrived at the hotel, we got a phone call, asking us to move the truck from the back of the garage. There was a motorcycle track day scheduled for the Monday morning and they needed the space in the paddock. This meant driving 45km to the circuit to move the truck and then drive 45km back. All of this at 2100 hours. NOT GOOD.
The paddock is mayhem when we arrive and we have to ask people to move vehicles out of the way before we can leave.

I take the decision to try to take a shorter route into Hungary, rather than going back to Bratislava and then joining the motorway. On the way, we have to stop at a service station near Medvedov to get our money back from the Slovakian  toll box. This takes us 45 minutes. This toll system is new for the Slovakians and it is in need of some severe changes. It is crazy to have to wait so long and if you have other people, doing the same in front of you, this time will only increase. We think that it may be helpful if we keep them for a possible return trip next year. But after talking to a German driver, we find out that if the box is inactive for 6 months, you have to rent a new one for another 50 euros.

IT,S JUST ANOTHER WAY FOR GOVERNMENTS TO GET MORE MONEY FROM YOU.

We start driving again and cross a very narrow bridge over the River Danube, and into Hungary. And guess what..............???????  Yes, we have to buy more tax for the truck. The powers that be dictate that we can buy tax for 1 day, 10 days or 1 month. Absolutely nothing in between. The "Matrica Vignette" office is very small, made of wood and has a service entrance about 1 metre from the floor. I have to bend down to talk to her. She doesn,t speak good English and my Hungarian is non existent. We write vehicle registration numbers on pieces of paper. Tell her that we need 10 days vignette and 71 euros later, we are totally legal and can continue our journey to the Hungaroring. Slovakia could learn a lesson from this method of payment. No silly, electronic box. Just a piece of paper. Once our vehicle registration number is entered in the system, we are good to go. The cameras that are situated on the roads can detect who we are. SIMPLES !!!!!!!!!

I hear that some trucks have been stopped by the Slovakian and Hungarian police but after some time, everyone is free to continue their journey. Why do police officers stop vehicles, from other countries. Especially when they can see your vehicle registration but they do not speak your language. It just seems so futile and pointless. They can,t talk to you and vice versa. VERY BIZARRE.

We head into Gyor, take a short turn to the left and head towards the M19 and the M1 towards Budapest. Chance to fill up with some diesel, get a coffee and get moving again.

212311 florints = lots of euros

Just as we are about to leave the services, several race trucks thunder past and give their truck horns a good blast. The motorway section around Budapest has been under construction for several years. It still resembles a very big building site and we saw not a single construction worker. Is this due to a lack of money or because of the May Day holiday? The circuit is very badly signposted. You only see a sign when you are 200 metres from the exit from the motorway. BLINK... and you will miss it.

The only sign for the Hungaroring

 We were expecting to just park the trucks, away from the garages. But obviously there is little or no testing at the circuit this week so it doesn,t matter if we park in the paddock.

Trucks arriving in Hungary

Do I know you?

We park up, get in a car to the hotel and we treat ourselves to a beer on a scorching hot, Budapest day.
Job done.