We look ahead to the action at Autodrom Most this weekend....
The FIA European Truck Racing Championship is back in action at the Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic this weekend.
Most begins a busy second half of the season with four rounds crammed in to the next six weeks with the championship culminating at Jarama, Spain on October 6.
The fifth stage of the 2019 season on the challenging 21 turn venue will see another large crowd cheering on local ace Adam Lacko.
The Buggyra Racing ace will be looking to reprise the memory of 2018 when he scored an unforgettable double Saturday win at his home track.
It was on that occasion that Lacko made the ‘move of the season’ with a daring around the outside manoeuvre on Rene Reinert to snatch a dramatic last gasp win at the final corner.
Lacko will have to perform similar heroics this weekend if he wants to stay in contention in the 2019 FIA ETRC title fight.
The Buggyra Racing driver is third in the standings and 75 points down on points leader Hahn who has triumphed at least once in each of the rounds held so far this season.
Even more remarkably, Hahn is yet to be beaten in the first race of a weekend this season and his rivals will be depressed to read that the great German champion has gone 22 months since he came away from an FIA ETRC meeting without a win.
This was back in October 2017 at Jarama when Hahn was not among the race winners!
Hahn’s nearest rival in the points standings is Antonio Albacete who again has shown tremendous consistency but still sits 67 points from Hahn.
The current battle for what now appears to be a likely runners-up position this season has hotted-up intensely in recent races.
Tankpool24 Racing’s Norbert Kiss, in fourth position is just a single point behind Lacko, while Steffi Halm rued a difficult weekend last time out at Nürburgring and dropped from second to fifth in the standings.
Sascha Lenz has enjoyed two wins this season at Hungaroring and Slovakiaring and places sixth but is just 25 points from second placed Albacete.
Two further Germans looking to break in to the fight for a top three position are IVECO drivers Rene Reinert and Andre Kursim. Both have won a race apiece this season with Reinert triumphing at the season opening Misano event and Kursim having tasted victory in Hungary.
Reinert also took a fine race four win at Autodrom Most last season.
Jose Rodrigues has shown some genuine pace on occasions in 2019 with his Reboconort MAN, while Anthony Janiec will be looking to fightback from a disappointing Nürburgring outfit to fight for French honour in his popular and vibrant Lion Truck Racing entry.
GRAMMER Battle Closes Up
The fight for the 2019 GRAMMER TRUCK CUP has intensified significantly in recent events as Oly Janes has seen his once healthy points advantage shrink.
The Buggyra Racing driver has a six point lead over Spanish racer Luis Recuenco heading to Most after a season of close and exciting racing.
Janes had a breakthrough weekend in the Czech Republic last season when he claimed a victory double on the Saturday.
Joining the battle is Jamie Anderson who has shown some sensational fighting performances in 2019 to date. Anderson is 26 points in arrears to Janes in third place but is very capable of taking multiple weekend victories on his second competitive visit to Most.
There will be a whole host of challengers to the top three at Most this weekend in the highly competitive GRAMMER TRUCK CUP.
Fabio Citignola took his first ever GRAMMER win at Nürburgring last time out as he continues to progress in his first season at this level with the Tankpool24 Racing team.
Terry Gibbon has consistently proved to be a threat at the front of the field in his T Sport Racing MAN. The British driver has scored multiple podiums in 2019 and will again be a contender.
Joining the FIA ETRC for the first time for several seasons will be Mika Mäkinen with his Ex-Buggyra Freightliner run under the Mad Croc Racing banner.
The Finn last raced in the championship back in 2015 but is a welcome addition as he looks to mix things up in the GRAMMER TRUCK CUP.
Racing veterans Edoardo Rodrigues, Erwin Kleinnagelvoort and Frankie Vojtisek will be looking for a podium chance if others should falter, while Dominique Orsini and his Mercedes-Benz makes a welcome return after missing the last rounds at Nürburgring last month.
The action gets under way with free practice on Friday afternoon but the all-important qualifying will begin on Saturday morning with two races on Saturday afternoon.
Check out the full timetable HERE
For the Most entry list click HERE
The latest points standings are HERE