Jochen Hahn takes his fifth win of 2018...
Jochen Hahn swept to his fifth FIA European Truck Racing Championship victory of the season at Nürburgring this morning to extend his points lead.
The Hahn Racing IVECO ace led from the first lap onwards after a supreme performance which went some way to rectifying a difficult Saturday for the four-time champion.
Taking the chequered flag by just 3.418s ahead of Antonio Albacete, Hahn was never seriously threatened after he capitalised on fellow front-row starter Antonio Albacete running wide on the first lap.
Albacete had sensationally snatched the lead at turn one after a superior start to pole sitter Hahn. But the German got his revenge when Albacete ran across the gravel at Turn 10 after contact between the pair. Hahn later received an official warning for the incident.
It was Reinert who took the runners-up position on the road after he came through chaos in the first few laps which saw contact between Norbi Kiss, Adam Lacko and Steffi Halm at turn three.
However Reinert was given a 5-second post-race penalty after cutting the chicane on the first lap as he tried to out-muscle a recovering Albacete and slipped to third position in the final result. Despite this, Reinert enjoyed his first ever podium visit on his home turf.
Sascha Lenz also suffered with an almost identical incident which cost him so much in Saturday’s first race. The SL Trucksport driver was turned around in the same incident with Kiss, Lacko and Halm and was again forced in to a recovery drive where
Further contact, with Kiss, accounted for Halm as she retired her Team Schwabentruck IVECO with a puncture and damage on lap two.
Kiss was in-line to take what looked like a comfortable fourth place after a spirited pursuit of Albacete’s Trucksport Lutz Bernau MAN.
The Hungarian stopped his Tankpool24 Racing Mercedes-Benz entry on lap 11 with an apparent mechanical issue.
This elevated Lacko who brought his Buggyra International Racing System home fourth despite most of his bodywork disintegrating after the first lap incident.
German racers Andre Kursim (Don’t Touch Racing IVECO) and Gerd Korber (Team Schwabentruck) finished in fifth and sixth places.
Taking the reverse grid pole position was Jose Rodrigues who took seventh position ahead of Anthony Janiec (Lion Truck Racing) in eighth who sealed the reverse grid pole for race three.
Ryan Smith worked hard to try and claim the eighth and made a smart move on Rodrigues. But the OXXO Hungary Truck Racing Team driver suffered another 10-second overspeeding penalty and was bumped down to ninth position.
In the GRAMMER TRUCK CUP it was a third straight win at Nurburgring for Shane Brereton who also took his TOR MAN truck to 11th overall ahead of Thomas Robineau (12th overall) and Steffen Faas (13th overall).
Terry Gibbon made progress through the field on his way to fourth in the GRAMMER TRUCK CUP and 14th overall.
There were thrills and spills all through the grid to entertain the huge German crowd. Luis Recuecno (Trucksport Lutz Bernau) and Oly Janes (Buggyra) clashed on lap three. Recuenco retired instantly with significant damage to the front of his MAN, while Janes initially continued with a slow puncture but then eventually retired.
Also in collision were Erwin Kliennagelvoort (EK Truck Sport Scania) and Teo Calvet (Lion Truck Racing) as they touched, spinning the Dutchman lightly in to the barriers. Calvet and Kleinnagelvoort continued and finished in 15th and 17th positions respectively.
Frankie Vojtisek grabbed 16th overall and Eduardo Rodrigues was 18th after a spirited battle once again with a recovering Kleinnagelvoort.
In the teams’ standings it was the Die Bullen Magirus von IVECO squad of Hahn and Halm that won ahead of Team Reinert Adventures pairing of Rene Reinert and Sascha Lenz.
The fourth and final race of the weekend is scheduled to begin at 16.10 local time.
Race result HERE