Norbert Kiss took a commanding win in race one of round four of the 2017 FIA European Truck Racing Championship held at Slovakia Ring this afternoon.
Norbert Kiss took a commanding win in race one of round four of the 2017 FIA European Truck Racing Championship held at Slovakia Ring this afternoon.
Despite not being happy with the setup of his truck after the initial running on Friday, the Team Tankpool24 driver made the best use of his previous car racing experience at the venue to first win the Super Pole session and then translate it into his first win of the 2017 season.
Championship leader, Adam Lacko, finished a distant second with his Buggyra International Racing System-entered Freightliner. The Czech sustained minor damage in a contact just after the start, but went on to finish ahead of his main opponents in the title fight on a circuit that he described as the biggest challenge of the entire season.
Reigning Champion, Jochen Hahn, brought his Hahn Racing Iveco home in third place to score a solid haul of points and staying in contention in the title fight following a difficult weekend at the Nürburgring two weeks ago.
Steffi Halm finished just outside of the podium in her Reinert Racing-run MAN. She was pushed hard by a charging Antonio Albacete, who started alongside Kiss on the front row but was then pushed wide just after the start and dropped all the way back to 10th place. From then on the Spaniard, driving a Truck Sport Lutz Bernau MAN, was on a mission to recover lost ground and managed to claw his way back to fifth.
Sixth went to Lacko’s team-mate David Vrsecky, who had Promoter’s Cup winner André Kursim behind him in seventh. Kursim took yet another Promoter’s Cup win on the back of his stellar performance at the Nürburgring where he scored his best ever result – fourth overall.
Veteran Gerd Korber brought his Schwabentruck Iveco home in eighth following a duel with Sascha Lenz in the closing stages of the race. Lenz ultimately ended up down in the final point-paying position.
Korber’s team mate Steffen Faas took ninth overall and second in the Promoter’s Cup capitalising on José Rodrigues’ drive through penalty for exceeding track limits.
Making his first FIA ETRC appearance of the year, Frankie Vojtisek landed third in Promoter’s Cup and 11th overall.
Tankpool24 Racing also celebrated the Teams' win ahead of Buggyra Racing 1969 and Die Bullen von IVECO Magirus.