Norbert Kiss took a sensational victory on the last lap of race two at Le Mans Bugatti this evening after an entertainingly dramatic finale.
Norbert Kiss took a sensational victory on the last lap of race two at Le Mans Bugatti Circuit this evening after an entertainingly dramatic finale.
The Hungarian only led for the last half a lap of the 10-lap event after race-long leader Gerd Körber was punted down to third position by Truck Sport Lutz Bernau’s Antonio Albacete as they entered the final tour.
The crowd roared in delight and excitement as Albacete made his late bid for the lead at turn three, but ultimately saw his advances resisted by the experienced Körber. The pair were locked together and momentarily almost slid off the circuit, while a grateful Kiss stormed by in to the lead. It was a close run thing though, as Albacete recovered and challenged Kiss through much of the final lap as the two rubbed wheels and shed bodywork.
But, it was Kiss who took the chequered flag to confirm his fifth race victory of the 2017 FIA ETRC season by the tiny margin of 0.275s, in what was the most exciting finish of the season to date.
Albacete scored his third podium position in the last six races to solidify his fifth place in the championship standings.
Earlier, the race saw some sensational action throughout as the top three of Körber, Albacete and Kiss broke away from the chasing pack in the first phase of the race. Körber, with his Team Schwabentruck Iveco truck showing signs of contact at the rear, defended solidly from the advances of the Spanish and Hungarian champions.
On the notoriously difficult to overtake Le Mans Bugatti Circuit, the status quo remained for the most of the race, much to Albacete and Kiss’ frustration before the final drama played out on the last lap.
Jochen Hahn chipped away a little more of title rival Adam Lacko’s points lead with fourth place, reducing the gap further to 38 points, while David Vršecký (Buggyra International Racing System) racked up more good points in fifth position.
Race one winner Steffi Halm (Reinert Racing MAN) took sixth position ahead of José Rodrigues (Reboconorte MAN). The Portuguese completed a Saturday double of wins in the Promoters Cup with a solid run to seventh place overall.
Adam Lacko had a quiet race after a frenetic opening when he clashed with Sascha Lenz’s SL Trucksport MAN. The incident slightly damaged Lacko’s truck and sent the German sliding down the order to an eventual 11th placed finish. Lenz was also in the wars with André Kursim as the pair clashed at the Ralentisseur du Chemin de Boeuf complex, delaying both as they recovered.
Shane Brereton was ninth overall and second in the Promoter’s Cup ahead of André Kursim in 10th. The young German who took a double overall win at Zolder one week ago also took third in the Promoter’s Cup but saw his point’s deficit to José Rodrigues grow further.
FIA ETRC returnee David Jenkins (MAN) took 12th ahead of Erwin Kleinnagelvvort (EK Scania), José Eduardo Rodrigues (Reboconorte MAN), Cees Zandbergen (Scania) and Manuel Rodrigues Goncalves (Volvo).
Die Bullen IVECO Magirus took the teams’ points in race two as Truck Sport Lutz Bernau and Team Tankpool24 Racing took second and third respectively.
Tomorrows third and fourth races at Le Mans Bugatti 13:20 and 16:30 local time.