In part two of our driver-by-driver season review, we look at 13th to seventh in the 2017 overall standings..
13th – 27 points | Anthony Janiec | Lion Truck Racing | MAN
The Frenchman only appeared in FIA ETRC once this year, at the ADAC Truck Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, but he did enough to prove that he’s a class act. During a largely damp weekend he stood on the podium twice and his recovery from a spin in race one was one of the highlights of the weekend. Without a doubt the Lion Truck Racing driver would be a force to be reckon with had he been a full-timer in the championship.
12th – 35 points | Shane Brereton | TOR Truck Racing | MAN
As we’re getting closer to the top ten in the final standings we enter the territory of race-winners. British racer Shane Brereton joined the fray quite late into the season, during round five of held in Hungary, and later appeared in Czech Republic and France, but was impressive from the off. The man himself points out that pre-season driver coaching by Jochen Hahn allowed him to take a massive step forward in terms of competitiveness. His victory in Most was well-judged and although surprising was richly merited.
11th – 39 points | Ryan Smith | Oxxo Energy Racing | MAN
Truck racing’s occasional bad boy only appeared on the European stage on three occasions last year, with his main focus being his domestic championship where he was crowned champion once again. Smith is a race-winning force (as he proved at Most) and other fighting performances saw him emerge as an aggressive and ambitious talent. Potentially a championship contender provided he contests a full campaign this year and of course keeps his nose clean.
10th – 70 points | José Rodrigues | Reboconorte Racing Truck Team | MAN
What a year it was for José Rodrigues – he started out in Austria by taking his maiden win (also a first ever for a Portuguese driver in the FIA ETRC) and signed off by securing the inaugural Promoter’s Cup at his ‘home’ track of Jarama. It was a year where Rodrigues experienced a fair share of bad luck but proved to be worthy cup winner, especially after the 'drama in Jarama' where his was involved in an incident that caused a red flag in race one but recovered to finish eighth overall.
9th – 88 points | André Kursim | Tankpool 24 Racing | Mercedes-Benz
Kursim finished ahead of Rodrigues in the final standings but failed to take the Promoter’s Cup. However he seemed the faster of the two on some occasions and the fact he suffered an engine failure at Most played a big part in the Promoter’s Cup going to Rodrigues. Despite missing out on his main objective, the young German racer made huge progress in 2017 compared to previous years. He was particularly impressive at Zolder where he clinched two overall wins. At 26, Kursim has time on his side and arguably has a very bright future in the sport.
8th – 150 points | David Vršecký | Buggyra International Racing System | Freightliner
The wise old fox of truck racing - Vršecký vacated his seat in Austria and Italy, making way for Alen and Enes Draganovic respectively, and then made his comeback in Germany. The two-time series champion needed some time to get up to speed and got better as the year went on. Yet, it’s fair to say that we didn’t see the best of the Czech as he often acted as rear-gunner for team-mate Lacko’s title challenge. Highlights were second place in race four at Zolder and a victory in race two at Jarama.
7th – 153 points | Gerd Körber | Team Schwabentruck | Iveco
2017 was special year for Körber in more ways than one. First of all, the veteran racers celebrated 30 years of truck racing. Secondly, it became clear that Körber is going to call time on full-time racing. But the season was nothing like the farewell tour Körber would have dreamed off. Despite his vast experienced the man admitted that he struggled to understand his truck fully which compromised a few events. The later part of the calendar saw a turnaround and Körber was in contention for the win at Le Mans until he came together with Antonio Albacete in the closing stages of race two. The day after he scored his only victory of the season to cap a magnificent career at the very top of his sport.