MOTORGRAD

Senior motorsport enthusiasts say that Blagoevgrad is the real alma-mater of Bulgarian motorsports. The racing history of this province, located in southwestern Bulgaria, dates back to the socialist times when legendary Dimitar Rangelov from Blagoevgrad was storming the World Motocross Championship with a chain of stunning victories. Rangelov became one of the first Bulgarian racers who got a chance to ride a motorcycle made outside of the socialist bloc country.

There is almost nothing similar left between the modern sport and races that took place over 40 years ago. The infrastructure, the motorcycles, the techniques and the money – everything is different. But passion and adrenaline always link the generations of motorcyclists together. Today, while the population of the whole province is less than 350,000 citizens, motorcycle enthusiasts from Blagoevgrad make a great effort to preserve the region’s motorsport heritage and further develop the community.

The cities’ avenues and mountain highways are always full of the so-called street riders on various types of motorcycles: from spectacular custom bikes to powerful superbikes. Unfortunately, the professional motorcycle environment is less diverse in Blagoevgrad. A limited number of motorsport types is represented due to a whole set of factors. Lack of the needed infrastructure excluded such subdivisions as circuit racing and supermoto. The abundance of forests and mountains made off-road racing such as enduro and motocross flourish among both amateurs and professional racers.

While an unpredictable terrain is often a part of enduro without a need to maintain the location all year round, hosting a motocross race requires a certified track and specific infrastructure.

The local motorsport community puts a lot of effort into maintenance of three large motocross tracks called “Gorilla,” “Deni 518” and “Zelen Dol,” which are situated in Gotse Delchev, Petrich and Blagoevgrad municipalities, respectively. The first two tracks are only used for traditional events and are not included in the official championships’ calendar, as they have not yet met the internationally recognized safety and infrastructure requirements. The third track, located in the village Zelen Dol, has been hosting stages of the Bulgarian National Motocross Championship for three consecutive years and is maintained by one of the local teams – Air Max Racing.

For most racers, riding a motorcycle every weekend is not just a hobby – it is their job to train, to ride and to win races. This job does not only include a classic racing weekend with qualification on Saturday and two races in each category on Sunday. It requires a persistent strategic approach towards the rider’s physical shape, motorcycle maintenance and learning of racing techniques.

“Motocross is like a school. First, you learn the alphabet, then you learn to read. Same here – first, you learn to sit on the bike, then you start riding and things happen gradually. When we learn something, we start to repeat it, so that we assimilate it and when we do, then it means we started learning something new,” said Stefan Neychev, a racer and a coach.

Professional motocross sportsmen agree that certain sacrifices have to be made in order to keep up with the training and racing events that happen every week or two.

When sportsmen are asked to identify the main source of struggle that hinders the development of motocross in the region, most racers point at the logo of the Bulgarian Motorcycle Federation (BMF). This logo must be on all the merchandise surrounding the competition, as BMF is the main administrative organ supervising motorcycle racing in the country. The federation inspects the tracks, the motorcycles and the equipment. It also gives out licenses to the judges, the coaches and the racers. However, participants often complain about the lack of support coming from the governmental organization, which is a part of the Bulgarian Ministry of Youth and Sport.

“Our federation is basically worthless. In order to hold a competition, you have to give away a whole bag of money to the federation, so that they can come and do nothing, just put up their ads and say that there was a championship. Nothing more. That is why traditional competitions in Bulgaria are organized by someone who gives money out of their pockets,” Neychev said.

At the end of 2020, Angel Trakov became the new president of the BMF. He acknowledges the existing problems and hopes for future improvements, which were not accomplished by the previous leadership team.

The federation is not the only one responsible for the organization of events. Local authorities are also involved. Some municipalities are ready to invest more, while others provide completely insufficient funding.

“The main set back in the organization of such events has always been the financial. For two years, we covered all the expenses alone, now we rely on the municipality as well. With every year, the municipality helps us more and more with the maintenance of the track and keeping it in the condition which you see now,” Bozhurski said regarding the Blagoevgrad municipality.

In contrast, the mayor of the village Samuilovo, Kiril Stoyanov, who is one of the initiators of the annual races, shares that Petrich municipality is overlooking the need for the development of motorsport in the region.

 

The transportation costs, gas, oil, tires, equipment, tools. The list of possible expenses can go on and on as one progresses in a racer’s career. To fight the financial struggles, sportsmen have to seek help from sponsors. Sometimes racers get lucky and secure sponsorship contracts with large companies.

“During one winter my mom and my dad were freaking out that both of us [their sons] have to race at the same time. Four days before a race Yamaha Bulgaria called and said they would give me a motorcycle for half the price, and we can pay for it whenever we want in the span of a year,” Neychev recalled a happy moment from the past.

Sadly, such a situation is more of an exception rather than a general rule in Bulgarian motorsport. The more experienced racers, who have started their careers long ago, are sure that due to financial hardship the sport is losing its talents.

Being the best racer in the country does not help much if nobody knows about the sport you are excelling at. Bulgarian National Television (BNT) is the main media channel that comes to the championships held on the national level. During the week after the race, a single 30-minute news piece is broadcasted, consisting of a mix of all the races. The racers stress that this is not enough for the sport to receive the needed level of popularity among the Bulgarian audience.

“Everything comes down to money. The federation has signed a contract with BNT, and another media has no right to shoot on the tracks. Perhaps there is more interest, but when the federation has signed a contract with one company, another one has no right to cover the event. They have a common interest, and they take the money they need,” said Viktor Neychev, a racer.

Another version of how things happen came from Sergei Sergeev, a world champion and Bulgarian motorsport legend. He says that his friends work in the media and shares that they do not cover the races because of limited timing provided by the TV channels’ directors and editors.

Despite all the struggles and barriers that people have to overcome to both organize the races and compete, the Blagoevgrad motorsport community keeps up the pace, looking forward to fighting for change and the development of the sport they love.

This piece is produced by

Viktor Kharyton and Yenlik O'Neill.

The article is a part of the Motorgrad Project.