MOTOR SPORT

Baja Hungary, August 26th-28th, 2011

For immediate release
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

MONSTER ENERGY X-RAID TEAM SET TO TACKLE BAJA HUNGARY

– Novitskiy and Schulz start Hungarian event in BMW X3 CC
– Novitskiy aims to extend FIA World Cup series lead

TREBUR (Germany): The Monster Energy X-raid team travels with the Russian-German duo of Leonid Novitskiy and Andreas Schulz to this weekend’s Baja Hungary, the fifth round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies. Novitskiy currently leads the series from closest French rival Jean-Louis Schlesser.

The Russian and his German co-driver have taken part in all the events so far this season in the FIA calendar and lie well clear of their nearest rival in the championship standings. Novitskiy has led the series since the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in April and will be hoping to secure his second win of the year in Hungary, as well as extending his lead in the FIA World Cup.

The Baja Hungary starts on Friday, August 26th with a timed super special stage. The remainder of the event takes place on Saturday, August 27th and Sunday, August 28th over seven special stages.

The route will take the X-raid crew around the city of Gyor, around 20 kilometres from the capital Budapest, but event organisers have been forced to move and shorten the route because of recent heavy rains.

"Leonid certainly has a good chance of winning the Baja Hungary," said Monster Energy X-raid team boss Sven Quandt. "However, he will not take any unnecessary risks. Every point is important for the defence of the title. "

Ends

Further information and photos are available at www.x-raid.de or contact Stefanie Szlapka or Thomas Quandt at X-raid GmbH, Tel: + 49 (0) 6147 204 670, E-mail: s.szlapka@x-raid.de or t.quandt@x-raid.de.

Published On: 23 August 2011