Luis Recenco took two GRAMMER TRUCK CUP wins while Brits Oly Janes and Jamie Anderson shared the glory on Sunday...
Luis Recenco took his maiden GRAMMER TRUCK CUP victory in race one on Saturday at Misano and then instantly added another triumph in the second 12-lap encounter, while Britsh pair Oly Janes and Jamie Anderson shared the glory between themselves on Sunday.
Truck Sport Lutz Bernau’s Recuenco looked rapid from the off during the 2019 FIA European Truck Racing Championship season-opening weekend, setting the pace from the start of practice.
The Spaniard was the fastest GRAMMER TRUCK CUP runner during Saturday’s qualifying session. He then converted his category pole to a victory and an eighth place overall finish to complete a superb all-round performance.
As a result, Recuecno found himself on pole position for the semi-reversed grid race two, where he faced the herculean task of keeping some of the best truck racers in the business behind him.
He did a splendid job bringing his white and green MAN home in solid sixth overall and more GRAMMER TRUCK CUP glory for the second time on Saturday evening.
British Sunday on Adriatic Coast
When it seemed that Recenco was set to be a dominant force for the weekend along came a mini-British invasion in the wet third race of the weekend on Sunday.
Buggyra Racing's Oly Janes was the fastest GRAMMER TRUCK CUP qualifier as he revelled in the wet conditions to lay down the marker for his competitors.
Janes took a reasonably comfortable race three victory ahead of Jamie Anderson in tough conditions which challenged man and machine in equal measure.
The British duo finished in the reversed order in race four following a titanic scrap that saw them swap positions amid some muscular battles throughout the action-packed 12-lap encounter.
Anderson initially led until Janes hunted down and overtook Anderson on lap three after making a decisive move on his fellow Brit at Turn 6.
But Anderson fought back valiantly and got his revenge a few laps later to assert his authority on the race. However, the run to the flag was far from calm as Janes got to within a touching distance of the white MAN challenger.
Following a win and three second places, it is Janes who leads the standings with 53-points to his name. Recuenco, owing to a difficult day on Sunday, is currently eight points down on Janes in second.
Race four winner Anderson lies third in the standing with 33 points to his name.
Anderson’s weekend was hampered by power steering problems that troubled him on Saturday. The driver of the white MAN sporting FIA Volunteers Day logos started race two from the pit lane and later retired.
Jose-Eduardo Rodrigues clocked up some valuable miles with his Reboconort MAN, finishing all four races with his best result being a third place in Race 2.
Thomas Robineau recorded two podiums but retirement in race two meant that he amassed a total of 30 points which put him fifth overall at the end of a frustrating weekend marred by penalties.
The Frenchman's race three podium was particularly impressive as he overtook rookie Fabio Citignola to claim third on the final tour and cross the line just 0.048s ahead of the Tankpool24 Racing's Mercedes-Benz.
German youngster Citignola had an impressive introduction to truck racing at Misano. The former Renault Clio Cup racer had some tough moments (which included a drive-through penalty for crossing the white line at the start and losing parts of his bodywork in a coming together) but got better with every race, each time improving his finishing position. Citignola started off with a seventh place, was fourth in both the second and third encounters before he signed off his weekend by notching up his first podium in the final race.
Dominique Orsini’s best effort was fifth in race two. The Frenchman failed to start the final race of the weekend due to a technical issue on his family-run Mercedes-Benz truck.