Balázs Szalay loves challenges.  He is passionate about the desert and the Dakar Rally. If someone is talking about the Dakar Rally in Hungary his name is definitely mentioned – most people simply refer to him as the “Hungarian of the Sahara.” The 45-year-old racer participated in the desert show eleven times and successfully accomplished the stages of the hardest cross-country rally race six times.

His career began with finishing the Road Atlanta race school in 1995 and afterwards he took a BMW race course in Imola. He first set off on the Dakar in 1996 and is currently preparing for his twelfth Dakar. He was the first Hungarian pilot (with Tamás Jakab co-pilot) who managed to accomplish the “marathon” stages of the Dakar challenge and he is the only racer in the country who already conquered the Sahara six times.

After the 2002 Dakar he established his own workshop where his racecars are built. This special event among many others assisted him in the victory along the second longest desert combat, the Pharao Rally in the year of the workshop foundation. As an acknowledgement of his achievement he received the priority of the International Automobile Association (FIA) that enabled him for two years to receive a favorable start number on the races and start right after the factory big shots.

In the 2004 Dakar Rally he finished 52^nd place as the only Hungarian (out of 5 Hungarian cars) with the navigation of Laszlo Bunkoczi. The pair has been racing together ever since and they have already completed five Dakar Rallies successfully together. In 2005 they were able to achieve 21^st place. The 2009 Dakar challenge was organized in South-America where Szalay joined the desert ring for the eleventh time and ended up being 22^nd place.

The pilot had a rewarding season in 2009 in the world of cross-country rallying. He won the Mid-Europe Zone Trophy that brought together the pilots of 11 countries, including Italy, Austria and Poland. Szalay stood up to the podium being 3^rd place at the Hungarian and Czech championship event. He also celebrated the triumph of the 2009 Slovakian Baja and Poland Baja.

In 2010 he won the Hungarian National Cross-Country championship.