Adam Lacko continued to showcase a wet weather masterclass at Red Bull Ring this afternoon. The Buggyra International Racing System driver again dominated during another entertaining race held in challenging wet conditions.
Adam Lacko continued to showcase a wet weather masterclass at Red Bull Ring this afternoon. The Buggyra International Racing System driver again dominated during another entertaining race held in challenging wet conditions.
The Czech driver, racing in the distinctive ‘Fat Fox’ had to work for his clear victory as he came through from eighth place in the reverse grid encounter. Lacko scythed through the field, even surviving contact with Jochen Hahn in which he lost the front bodywork of his truck.
Taking the chequered flag 14.447s ahead of second placed Ryan Smith, Lacko lived up to his reputation as the ‘rainmaster’ of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship. His victory ensured that he has reduced the gap to Jochen Hahn in the Drivers’ standings to just six points.
The final race of the weekend was red flagged three tours short of the scheduled 20-laps as Thomas Robineau and Eduardo Rodrigues were stuck in gravel traps after separate incidents in the treacherous conditions.
“It was a tough race because it was so difficult overtaking in the wet conditions,” confirmed Lacko. “In the first few laps I was looking for the best lines to see where the grip was but then I started to pass people. The truck was very consistent and the Buggyra team did a great job again and it has been a perfect day today and we achieved the maximum which is very satisfying.”
Ryan Smith’s second place ensures the British racer scored his best ever FIA ETRC result in the OXXO Racing Team prepared MAN truck. Smith led for the first eight laps of race four from pole position but was unable to resist Lacko’s stunning pace and the Buggyra driver claimed the lead at Turn One.
“You know what, I don’t believe in fairy tales, but this is a bit of a fairy tale for us, from where we started to where we are now,” said Smith. “The whole team has worked so hard. So especially after what happened in race one, we are delighted.
“In these conditions one mistake and you are off (the track), fair play to Adam. The Buggyra truck looked like a speed boat more than a racing truck today. He took lines which were not possible for the MAN truck, but you know, we are delighted with our result.”
Completing the podium was Gerd Körber (Team Schwabentruck IVECO), who engaged in a fantastic battle throughout most of the race with René Reinert, Jochen Hahn and Jiří Forman. Korber was left alone to claim the final podium position after first Reinert went straight on at Turn Two on lap 12, and then Hahn had a similar incident four laps later.
Hahn had earlier overtaken both Norbert Kiss (Tankpool24 Racing) and Jiří Forman to latch on to Körber’s tail, but after his turn two incident he was forced to settle for 4th place ahead of the impressive rookie Forman, who ran second in the early laps but was eventually was classified 5th.
Norbert Kiss, despite an off-track moment at the Jochen Rindt Bocht, scored more points for 6th position. His new team, Tankpool24 Racing, plan to debut their new Mercedes-Benz truck next time out at Misano.
Frankie Vojtíšek came through to claim 7th position in his Czech Truck Racing Team MAN after another entertaining race where he used all his experience to gain more hard-earned points.
Erwin Kleinnagelvoort (Scania) drove a solid race to score his first points of the season in 8th position, while Anthony Janiec recovered running straight-on at Turn One early in the race to claim two points for 9th position in his Lion Truck Racing MAN.
The final point went to Ellen Lohr in her Truck Sport Lutz Bernau MAN in 10th place. René Reinert finished out of the points in 11th place after his outbraking incident at Turn Two. Sascha Lenz came home 12th after being delayed through a spin.
Buggyra Racing 1969 again took the points in the Team Championship to cap off an ultra-successful day
The next event on the 2016 FIA European Truck Racing Championship schedule is at Misano in Italy over the weekend of 28-29 May.