6th & 7th August, as part of the celebration process of Hungarian Republic in August, MOD  Hungary, after one year of termination, is organizing an International Air Show and Military Display in Kecskemét. On the press conference of the event, Minister of Defense, Ferenc Juhász announced, that already 17 participants, of the 22 invited, confirmed their participation. It means, there will be at least 52 different aircraft on one of the biggest air shows in Central-Eastern-Europe. 

During the two day event, besides the most modern aircraft of the 21st century, there will be displayed other equipments of the Hungarian HDF, which are used by Hungarian Armed Forces not only inside Hungary, but in all over the world in peace keeping missions.

In his short briefing, the minister mentioned that among the countrywide series of celebration events for the foundation of the Hungarian state, there was intended to have an event, which attracts hundreds of thousands people’s attention. To attract people’s attention, , there will be an acceleration race on the Air Show, between a Swedish Air Force’s Gripen and a Red Bull Racing Formula-1 car. It may increase the attention, that two media stars will take part in this event, László Palik and Gábor Bochkor. Their participation is slightly different, since Palik will drive the Formula-1 car himself, at the same time Bochkor-who already had a ride on the MiG-29, two years ago-will be a passenger in the Gripen, which will be flown by a Swedish pilot.

In Hungary it will be the first time, when a racing between a top category aircraft and a top category car will occur. Last year, there was a similar event in Rome, where the seven time Formula-1 champion, Michael Shumacher with his Ferrari, competed with a Eurofighter. In that event, both vehicles were on the ground. At the same time, in Kecskemét, only the car will be on the runway, the Gripen will arrive to the starting line in the air, with approximately 200 km/h. They will compete 4 times on different distances (500, 1000, 1500, 2000m) on the 2500 m long runway. It makes it even more exiting that the result of the race is almost unpredictable. The F1 car is only 600 kg, and with its dynamic acceleration it takes only few seconds to reach 200 km/h. With the 900 hp Cosworth engine, until the end of the runway, it can go as fast as 300 km/h.

The Red Bull Racing team chief, Chris Horner could not take part on the press conference, because he was preparing for the weekend’s Barcelona race. That’s why he sent a video message to the press conference. The F1 team, which was created after buying the Jaguar team, is a new one in the race, and is doing very well so far. The team chief called the unique event a big challenge, but at the same time is very happy with the opportunity. He added, that if Palik is doing well, he might have other opportunities with the car again. Since the Formula-1 Hungarian GP is one week prior to the Air Show, the Red Bull Racing team will leave part of their equipments in Hungary, that gives enough opportunities to Palik, to prepare for the race, which will be one of the most attractive parts of the Air Show.