Adam Lacko took a commanding win in race three of the Nürburgring round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship this morning.
Adam Lacko, driving his Buggyra International Racing System Freightliner, took a commanding win in race three of the Nürburgring round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship this morning.
The Czech further extended his growing point’s advantage over his competitors to points as he continues his quest for a first FIA ETRC title. He now leads by 46 points.
Tankpool24 Racing entrant Norbert Kiss finished second in his Mercedes-Benz, while Lion Truck Racing’s MAN of Anthony Janiec completed the podium recording his second third-place finish in three races.
The weather conditions improved slightly overnight and the early indications suggested that a dry surface could put an end to Lacko’s recent wet weather domination in his Freightliner truck.
Kiss won the Super Pole session and started from pole, while Lacko qualified only fourth. But come the race it was the same story once again as Lacko made a storming start which saw Kiss, Antonio Albacete, Jochen Hahn and the Czech run four abreast into turn one. It was Albacete who emerged as a surprise leader from the scrap with Sascha Lenz in the SL Trucksport MAN making a remarkable leap from seventh to second. It was a to be a very brief second for the German.
The Spaniard’s lead didn’t last long as he spun and took Lenz with him at turn three. Both managed to continue, but their chances of a decent result were over.
Kiss capitalised on the situation but Lacko was pushing him hard in second and Körber was now third, from ninth on the grid. Soon after both Kiss and David Vršecký ran wide exiting the final corner, with Kiss re-joining in fifth and Vršecký losing further ground after a lengthy trip through the gravel.
From this point the race was a one man show as Lacko stayed in control of the race, gradually extending his lead to a point where he was 12-seconds in front. In the meantime, there was plenty of action behind the Czech with several drivers regaining lost ground in the opening stages. Chief among these was Norbi Kiss, who soon moved up to second after an entertaining scrap with Anthony Janiec’s Lion Truck MAN.
While Kiss was moving up, the Iveco’s lost ground, with first Körber slipping back and dropping from third to tenth and then Hahn suffering a similar experience.
In the latter stages of the race both Ivecos were on a mission to get back into the points positions, as were Antonio Albacete and David Vršecký.
André Kursim put on a strong performance and stayed out of trouble to take fourth overall, his best ever result in the FIA ETRC.
Vršecký managed to come back into fifth position in the second of the Buggyra Freightliners with Steffi Halm in Reinert Racing MAN, who experienced a rather quiet race, one place behind in sixth.
Hahn and Körber recovered to seventh and eight respectively, while Albacete, who was dead last after the lap one incident stormed through the pack to ninth place following a late lunge on Jeremy Robineau.
The final point’s position went to José Rodrigues in his Reboconorte MAN.
Brilliant Kursim takes second Promoter’s Cup win of the weekend
The Promoter’s Cup class saw a second consecutive win for André Kursim as the German youngster took control from the second lap onwards.
The Tankpool24 Racing entered driver made further in-roads into José Rodrigues’ points advantage with a well-judged drive. Rodrigues took the runners-up position after managing to drop Jeremy Robineau after he temporarily fell behind him after a mid-race excursion.
Robineau led at the end of the first lap but was quickly usurped by Kursim and Rodrigues and eventually came home third ahead of Heinz-Werner Lenz’s Mercedes-Benz.
Buggyra 1969 claimed the Teams’ honours in race three as Adam Lacko and David Vršecký combined to beat the Tankpool24 Racing pairing of Norbert Kiss and Andre Kursim. The Die Bullen IVECO Magirus pairing of Jochen Hahn and Gerd Körber claimed the final rung of the podium.