Steffi Halm led home a famous 1-2 finish for Team Schwabentruck in race two this afternoon...
Steffi Halm led home a famous Team Schwabentruck IVECO 1-2 at Nürburgring this afternoon to send her home fans delirious in the second FIA European Truck Racing Championship.
It was Halm’s second FIA ETRC victory on home ground as she reprised her win from 2016 to take her first win in an IVECO truck.
The result also meant that with Jochen Hahn finishing out of the top ten, the gap from the four-time champion to the chasing pack is down to 27-points.
Halm managed to clear teammate and pole sitter Gerd Körber on lap four of the race after the German veteran made way to then defend his second from a charging Buggyra International Racing System Freightliner driven by Adam Lacko.
Lacko eventually fell back from Korber and left the Team Schwabentruck IVECO’s to complete a formation finish to delight the legions of IVECO fans and partners.
For Körber it was one of his finest races as he had to deal with a severely damaged windscreen after it started to disintegrate early on in the race. The German veteran performed miracles to keep his concentration and his hard-won second place to the flag.
Outside the top three there was action galore as a train of trucks battled it out throughout the 13-lap event.
Fourth was eventually claimed by Norbert Kiss in his Tankpool24 Racing Mercedes-Benz, with the Hungarian ace managing to repel a feisty Jochen Hahn. The pair were able to catch Lacko in the final five laps and thrill the crowd with a dynamic battle for third place.
It all came to a head when Hahn locked up his brakes heading in to the short circuit loop and dropped back down the field after an excursion down the escape road in the closing stages.
Hahn’s issue dropped him down to 12th place and elevated race one winner Antonio Albacete in to fifth position in his Trucksport Lutz Bernau MAN.
With many drivers getting in-race time penalties for overspeeding, the shape of the top ten changed considerably in the final result.
Rene Reinert got two 10-second sanctions and was classified 13th, while Sascha Lenz who also got a pair of penalties for overspeeding but still came home ninth after another fighting performance.
It was particularly bitter for Reinert who finished seventh on the road after starting from the back of the grid due to his race one shunt.
Albacete was also penalised and dropped a place at the chequered flag to sixth behind Don’t Touch Racing driver and front-row starter Andre Kursim.
A fraught battle between Anthony Janiec’s Lion Truck MAN and Ryan Smith’s OXXO Hungary Truck Racing entry resulted in contact between the pair on lap seven. They both had penalties applied for overspeeding but were placed seventh and eighth after the penalty sort out.
The final point was taken by Jose Rodrigues who also had a penalty given but still claimed 10th position.
The GRAMMER TRUCK CUP saw Shane Brereton take his fifth win of the season after a race long battle with Steffen Faas.
The TOR MAN driver fought off the advances of the Tankpool24 Racing Mercedes-Benz driver, who fell back in the overall standings to after n overspeeding penalty, but still maintained second in the category.
Brereton tightened his grip on the inaugural GRAMMER TRUCK CUP points lead and now heads Faas by six points.
Becoming the youngest driver to ever stand on an FIA ETRC podium was Teo Calvet in only his second ever appearance at this level.
The 17 year-old Frenchman put in a mature performance to claim third position in the GRAMMER TRUCK CUP and impress the whole paddock with his drive.
Rounding out the top sixth in the GRAMMER TRUCK CUP were Luis Recuenco (Trucksport Lutz Bernau), Oly Janes (Buggyra International Racing System) and Erwin Kleinnagelvoort (EK Truck Sport).
Eduardo Rodrigues (Reboconort) and Terry Gibbon (T Sport) were the last of the trucks to cross the finishing line, while Frankie Vojtisek suffered delays with his Czech Truck Racing Team and was classified 21st albeit three laps down.
Thomas Robineau completed a disappointing day with a retirement on lap four.
In the teams’ race it was the Die Bullen von IVECO duo of Halm and Korber that claimed the maximum points in race two. Buggyra Racing 1969 were second and RS Racing third.
The two remaining races of the 33rd ADAC Truck Grand Prix meeting are scheduled to take place at 11.50 and 16.10 tomorrow.
Click HERE for the RESULT