Bence Barna Motorsport

Home race weekend 🏁🇭🇷

Croatian Championship – Rotax Senior
📍 Virovitica, Croatia
📅 September 11–13

Proud to be racing for AMKK Cobra Virovitica 🐍🏁

Some siblings play ball together, but we gotta be cooler, so we burn money instead. 🔥

Nothing beats a quick test day with my brother. 🤙🏻

🇭🇷 Croatian Championship Round 3 – Box707

Small and narrow Box707 brought us back to the track where luck definitely wasn’t on our side last year. We came determined to change that, but the weekend quickly became another challenge as I had to limit my testing due to an important family matter.

Friday was spent testing with my training engine using last year’s setup. The balance wasn’t bad, but with the slower engine and some electrical issues I was still around half a second away from the target pace. Unfortunately, I had to miss Friday evening and all of Saturday, leaving me with only the 10-minute warm-up on Sunday to run in my freshly serviced race engine and adapt to the much grippier track conditions.

Warm-up turned into complete chaos. The power valve line slipped off, forcing us back into the pits, and we also realized we were running a gear ratio that was far too long. We fixed both issues, but the session was over almost before it had started.

Qualifying improved immediately after changing the gearing. The kart felt much better, but I made mistakes on my fastest laps on the new tyres and qualified P5.

Race 1: Another setup change before the start paid off. I gained one position into Turn 1 and spent the entire race defending to finish P4.

Race 2: Started from the outside but made another great launch, overtaking into Turn 1 to move into P3. I defended the podium position until the penultimate lap, when another driver pushed me completely off the track. He received a push-back bumper penalty, but unfortunately that didn’t change the outcome, and another promising result slipped away.

Considering I had just 10 minutes of meaningful running all weekend, I knew my best chance would be strong starts followed by solid defending. That strategy almost delivered a podium, and despite the circumstances, the pace was there.

Big thanks to and 🤝

Looking back, this weekend wasn’t only about racing. It was a reminder that there are things in life that matter more than motorsport. ❤️

🇭🇷 Novi Marof – CEZ & Croatian Championship

The second round of the Croatian Championship also counted towards the Central European Zone Championship, bringing together one of the strongest Rotax Max grids in the region with top drivers from Croatia, Austria and Serbia.

Since the previous race in Virovitica, I hadn’t been in the kart, so I spent race week testing, completing around 200 km before the event. Novi Marof is the fastest circuit on the calendar, with average speeds above 90 km/h, making engine performance crucial. Huge thanks to from KMS Europe, whose support during testing helped us find a much stronger setup and gave me confidence going into the weekend.

Qualifying day started with a small setback after a moved wheel hub affected the morning sessions, but once fixed, the pace returned. I qualified P6 in the CEZ classification, just three tenths from pole on the 1.3 km circuit.

Race 1: After losing a position at the start, I fought back to P5, defending hard for almost the entire race.

Race 2: A strong start gained me two places, but after three laps I was hit from behind. The impact damaged the kart and forced my retirement.

Race 3: Thanks to an incredible effort from my main mechanic, , the kart was repaired just in time, although it was still slightly bent. Starting from the back of the grid, I worked my way through the field, caught the leading pack and finished P5 in the CEZ classification.

The retirement in Race 2 cost us the opportunity to fight for a podium in the Croatian Championship, but the pace we showed throughout the weekend—and the comeback from last with a damaged kart—proved we can fight with the best drivers in the region.

A huge thank you to Szotak Dominik, Janes Ferenc, everyone at Cobra Virovitica, my family, and everyone who supported me throughout the weekend. Looking forward to the next round! 🏁

Season Kick Off in Croatia 🇭🇷

First round of the Croatian Championship in Virovitica and first race weekend with the new chassis.

Came into the race weekend with proper preparation and a 3-day test programme the week before. Probably the most complete testing I’ve had since I started racing, thanks to Dominik Szotak and Zsolt Bandi. During testing, we already managed to beat my 2024 personal best, marking a big step forward.

The level of the category also stepped up this season, with top drivers coming up and a very strong field overall.

Friday free practice was more challenging as we struggled to find the same feeling from last week’s test, but we worked through it and got back on pace by Saturday afternoon, almost last minute.

Sunday started well – the track felt fast immediately in warm up. In qualifying, I set my fastest lap ever (38.5) despite hitting traffic in the tyres’ best performance window → P5.

Race 1: bad start, missed the rhythm, but starting from the inside I managed to hold position. Uneventful race overall, finished P5 without taking too many risks.

Race 2: much better start, went around the outside in T1 and gained two positions. Had strong pace and was confidently running at the front in a podium position. Despite having enough space behind, the driver in P4 made a poor decision at the hairpin, hit me and put me into the wall, ending my race. Deja vu from last year.

Overall P6, P3 in North Croatian category. Not the result I aimed for at all, but the pace showed we could fight at the front even against a very strong field, and I’m proud of what we achieved with limited resources.

Already looking forward to the next round, CEZ in Novi Marof 🇭🇷

Thanks for the support, it means a lot to be part of AMKK Cobra Virovitica 🤝

Man, I love racing in the rain. 🏎️💨💦

Friday practice photo dump — Styrian Championship Round 1 🇦🇹

Styria Karting Motorsportclub

Greinbach 🇦🇹 – first race of the season ✅

This weekend marked the first round of the Styrian Championship, where I decided to compete as preparation for the Croatian season.

For this race, I chose to run my old Tony Kart chassis, as the Greinbach track is extremely bumpy and I didn’t want to risk damaging a new chassis straight away.

Prior to race week, we had one test day at the track, which was challenging due to the rough surface causing multiple issues, but we managed to find a baseline setup. We prepared the kart thoroughly at home, however Friday’s test day before the race was mostly wet, meaning we went into race day with very limited dry running. On top of that, the track conditions changed significantly, with lap times around 2.5 seconds faster than during testing.

Free practice on race day went well, with pace around the podium positions. However, a backfiring issue cost us track time and forced us to skip a session, before solving it with a cable change.

Qualifying came together well – the chassis and engine worked perfectly, and I pushed hard to take P4, despite a throttle cable issue during the session.

Race 1 started strong, gaining a position early and fighting for P3–P4 throughout. Unfortunately, with two laps to go, a lapped driver didn’t see me and made contact, dropping me back to P6. It was a frustrating and unfair situation.

In Race 2, I took a risk at the start, going around the outside and braking late to gain two positions. I was again in the fight for P4, but after contact from behind I was pushed wide at a hairpin, losing multiple positions. In the closing laps, I pushed hard to recover and caught the group ahead, making a huge divebomb move in the last corner on the final lap to finish P6.

The final results don’t fully reflect the pace, but overall it was a very valuable weekend. Racing at such a demanding track with almost no prior dry running, against experienced and quick local Austrian drivers, made it a great challenge.

I really enjoyed the track and the championship – I will definitely be back.

Big thanks to Szoták Dominik and Cobra Virovitica 🤝

Now the focus is on Virovitica 🇭🇷

Completed a couple of productive test days with the new chassis in Virovitica. 🇭🇷

Tried multiple setup directions, put in the work, and logged some strong laps with heads down. Still plenty ahead as we keep building toward the season. 💪🏻

Pre-season testing is underway. Feeling comfortable in the kart. 💪🏻🔥