Adam Lacko took is first win for almost a year with a fine display in Race 2....
Adam Lacko swept to his first FIA European Truck Racing Championship of the 2019 season in race two at the Nürburgring today.
The 2017 champion put behind him a troubled start to the season by taking his Buggyra Racing Freightliner to a fine victory after he surged from third on the grid and in to the lead on the first lap.
Lacko mastered a fraught first few corners which saw pole-sitter Anthony Janiec drop back and José Rodrigues take to the grass in attempt to snatch the lead.
But it was Lacko who emerged in front and the Czech was able to control a gap to second placed José Rodrigues for most of the 13-lap encounter which saw more thrilling action throughout the bumper 25 truck field.
But Rodrigues saw his dreams of a runners-up place dashed as first Sascha Lenz and then Jochen Hahn manged to find a way through to claim second and third positions in the final few laps.
Lenz’s second place came via a brilliant move on Rodrigues as he hung around the outside of turn one before claiming the inside in to the following left hander. The move involved contact between the pair but the incident was not placed under investigation.
Antonio Albacete also found his way passed Rodrigues in the final few corners to snatch fourth place and secure a fine aggregate Saturday points haul for the Trucksport Lutz Bernau driver.
Steffi Halm drove arguably one of her finest races with a brilliant ‘top gear from the rear’ drive as she took her Team Schwabentruck IVECO from the rear of the grid to sixth.
The FIA ETRC’s most successful ever female racer enraptured the crowd with a sensational recovery drive which saw her finish just 11-seconds from winner Lacko.
Gerd Körber placed seventh finishing just behind Team Schwabentruck teammate Steffi Halm. The truck racing veteran had placed third for much of the race but was powerless to resist Lenz, Hahn, Albacete and Halm in the second half of the race
Also enjoying superb drives from the rear after issues in race one were René Reinert and André Kursim who jousted furiously to claim eight and ninth places at the chequered flag.
The final stages of the race saw the field having to contend with a light rain shower which saw more superb action for the massive Nürburgring crowd to enjoy.
Norbert Kiss held fifth position in the first exchanges but shunted into Anthony Janiec at the turn three left-hand corner spinning the hapless Frenchman around.
Gerd Körber and Sascha Lenz also sent the crowd into rapture by indulging in some dramatic ‘doughnuts’ on their in-laps.
There were more troubles for Kiss’ Tankpool24 Racing teammate Fabio Citignola who again retired early from the race, while Shane Brereton and Anthony Janiec both retired after they collided when the Frenchman attempted to recover from his altercation with Kiss.
Anderson Sweeps to GRAMMER Glory
Jamie Anderson took his seventh GRAMMER TRUCK CUP success of the season after leading from almost start to finish at Nürburgring this afternoon.
The Anderson Racing MAN competitor was not without intense pressure though as Teo Calvet [Lion Truck] drove the race of his career so far to challenge for the category win.
Despite getting to within inches of Anderson, Calvet eventually had to settle for second despite very briefly taking the lead from Anderson in the early running.
The French teenager was then dragged into an entertaining battle with Terry Gibbon’s T Sport truck and the pair scrapped energetically. However, it was Gibbon who took the runners-up spot after contact between the pair.
This let Luis Recuenco [Truck Sport Lutz Bernau] through into third place after the Spaniard made a move late in the race.
Race one winner Thomas Robineau had a subdued race after starting from the category pole.
The French ace dropped back to fifth after a difficult opening lap and headed Erwin Kleinnagelvoort who recovered from a back of the grid start when his Scania refused to fire-up on the dummy grid.
Seventh in GRAMMER TRUCK CUP was Oly Janes who headed home José-Eduardo Rodrigues, Clemens Hecker, Franck Conti, and Jennifer Janiec.
Janes still leads the points standings but now by just six points from Recuenco.
Frankie Vojtisek was the final classified finisher after he was forced to make a pit-stop early in the race.
*Antonio Albacete and Terry Gibbon both received 5s penalties. Albacete's penalty was a result of leaving the track and gaining an advantage while Gibbon was penalised for the last lap collision with Teo Calvet. As a result, Albacete drops down from fourth to seventh, while Gibbon from 11th to 13th. Gibbon also dropped from second to fourth in the GRAMMER TRUCK CUP.