Norbert Kiss took a lights to flag win in a wet third race of the 2019 FIA ETRC season at Misano....
Norbert Kiss took a lights to flag win in rain-hit third race of the 2019 FIA ETRC season-opening weekend held at Misano this afternoon. It was the Hungarian's first victory in the FIA ETRC since the third race at Jarama in October 2017.
The 12-lap encounter started behind the official FIA ETRC Mercedes-Benz Pace Truck due to the heavy rain that hit the 4.408-mile Italian track just before the start.
Once the green flag flew, it was Kiss who remained in control as he quickly opened up a 2.4s gap over second-placed Adam Lacko of Buggyra Racing and third placed Jochen Hahn in his Team Hahn Racing IVECO.
The top three runners played a game of cat and mouse as they explored the conditions. With even gaps between them for most of the race they crossed the line in the same order as they stared despite best efforts to get within striking range of eachother.
It was behind the top three where the majority of the action came. For the majority of the running, there was a four or even a five-way battle for fourth place.
Initially, it was Anthony Janiec who held the position with Antonio Albacete following him like a shadow in his Truck Sport Ltz Bernau MAN. Eventually, the Frenchman lost out to the Spaniard and then lost several places after an excursion.
It was now Albacete who had to deal with a train of trucks that was formed of Rene Reinert, Andre Kursim, Jose Rodrigues and Sascha Lenz.
In the closing stages of the race, Reinert launched an attack into the inside of Albacete to take fourth. In the meantime, Kursim lost several places and fell out of the top 10.
Lenz went on to finish sixth in his SL Trucksport 30 MAN after he had to recover lost ground from early in the race when he went wide dropping from fifth to tenth.
Janiec, who had a sniff of a podium finish early on, brought his Lion Truck Racing MAN home in seventh place ahead of Reboconort’s Jose Rodrigues who scored his first points of the weekend.
Steffi Halm claimed points for charging to ninth overall after she lost her seventh place on the grid and had to start from the very back after her team was adjudged to have used the wrong tyres during qualifying.
Janes Takes GRAMMER Glory
The GRAMMER TRUCK CUP spoils went to Buggyra Racing’s Oly Janes as he took a conclusive victory and revelled in the wet conditions. It was an accomplished win for Janes who led from lights to flag in a dominant display.
Second in the category, and making it a British 1-2, was Jamie Anderson who put behind him a frustrating Saturday to truly kick-start his season where he is expected to be a title contender.
The final rung of the podium saw a frenetic battle between Fabio Citignola (Tankpool24 Racing Mercedes-Benz) and Thomas Robineau in his Robineau Racing run MAN. The French ace initially ran second to Janes in the early stages but dropped back after an excursion on the final lap.
He then fought back and latched on to and just overtook rookie Citignola to claim third on the final tour to cross the line just 0.048s ahead of the German youngster.
Luis Recuenco, who took two wins yesterday to leap into an early points lead, came home in 16th overall and sixth in the category, one place ahead of final finisher Dominque Orsini.