Balaton Park MotoGP Thursday Round Up: First Impressions Of Hungary, And Ducati Hitting The Limits

Balaton Park MotoGP Thursday Round Up: First Impressions Of Hungary, And Ducati Hitting The Limits

I live by the maxim that in matters of taste, I am the sole arbiter of what is good and what is bad. I adopt this position because I am the person who has to live with those choices. So I only listen to music that I like, I only eat food that I like, I only read the books that I enjoy. It is a good way to live, and I heartily recommend everyone else adopt it. Life is too short to have your tastes dictated by other people.

I bring this up because my preconceptions about the Balaton Park circuit have been changed by actually visiting the track. The layout is still terrible, way too tight for MotoGP, and with a number of corners which can be very dangerous if anything happens. But the track condition and the facilities are very good, much better than some of my friends and colleagues led me to believe.

To get the full experience, I went to walk the track, getting as far as Turn 4 before being kicked off to make way for a BMW promotional event that involved driving a bunch of influencers around in a fast car while they held ping pong balls on a plate, if I remember correctly, to generate a bunch of hashtag content to help with BMW's branding. So I was left to complete the lap around the service road, to the sound of larks, wagtails, and the occasional squeal of rubber protesting at being thrown into a chicane with quite such force.

Top notch

David Emmett Thu, 04/Jun/2026 - 21:10

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