Jochen Hahn scored his ninth victory of the season after beating Adam Lacko in the first race of the weekend at Circuit Zolder this afternoon.
Jochen Hahn scored his ninth victory of the season after beating Adam Lacko in the first race of the weekend at Circuit Zolder this afternoon.
The German driver overtook pole sitter Lacko on the opening lap and was able to keep the Buggyra International Racing System Freightliner behind until the chequered flag, despite late race pressure from the Czech driver.
As a result, Hahn extended his FIA European Truck Racing Championship points lead. The Team Hahn Racing driver now leads Lacko by 18 points.
Lacko led into the first lefthander, but three-time European champion Hahn managed to overtake him on the opening lap. Towards the end of the race Lacko was able to close the gap again and with two laps remaining the gap was down to just three-tenths of a second.
Contact between Lacko and Hahn meant the MAN cut across the gravel trap at turns 8 and 9, which gave Hahn some breathing space. Lacko was unable to close the gap to his rival on the final lap.
The Czech eventually finished 1.689s behind the MAN, but was given a 10-second time penalty following the race for overspeeding.
Steffi Halm went from fifth to third on the opening lap, passing Reinert Racing teammate René Reinert and Frenchman Anthony Janiec. Halm, however, was unable to challenge Lacko and Hahn and settled for third place and important points in the fight for third in the championship.
Behind Halm, Janiec was able to fend off the Team Schwabentruck Iveco of Gerd Körber to take fourth position. The two made contact into turn 5 early in the race, then stayed together for the entire 12 laps, separated by just a couple of tenths of a second.
Reigning FIA European Truck Racing Champion Norbert Kiss was unable to make up any positions on the opening lap and finished in sixth place, almost five seconds clear of the S.L. Racing Team Germany MAN of Sascha Lenz.
Jiri Forman, Thomas Robineau and Ellen Lohr took the final points scoring positions at Zolder. Ten trucks finished within a minute of each other in the opening race of the Zolder weekend.
André Kursim, who had started from tenth place, dropped back to 13th on the opening lap after running wide into turn 2. The Tankpool 24 Racing driver eventually finished his Mercedes-Benz in 11th position, ahead of the MAN of Eduardo Rodrigues and the Scania of Erwin Klein Nagelvoort.
John Hemming was the last driver to cross the finish line. Hemming finished a lap behind race winner Hahn, after making a pit stop at the end of the first lap. The Finnish driver complained about brake pedal vibration as he entered the pits.
René Reinert was the only driver not to finish Race One. The Reinert Racing MAN started the race from third place, but rapidly dropped down the order on the opening lap. Reinert came into the pit at the end of the lap and retired from the race with technical problems.
The second race, which will see the top eight from Race One start in reverse order, is scheduled to begin at 16.35 local time. For live text and timing click here