Rene Reinert took a tight victory over Steffi Halm in an IVECO 1-2 at Zolder....
Rene Reinert resisted huge pressure to score his third win of the 2019 FIA European Truck Racing Championship at Circuit Zolder this evening.
The Reinert Racing IVECO ace absorbed intense pressure from former teammate Steffi Halm’s Team Schwabentruck entry and crossed the line just 0.4s clear.
Despite several looks to pass Reinert, Halm was unable to make one stick on the tight Belgian track and was forced to settle for second place.
For Halm it was her best finishing position since the Slovakiaring round in early July.
Norbert Kiss, who ran briefly ran second, was able to hold on to third place despite the close attention of Antonio Albacete and Adam Lacko who tailed him home in fourth and fifth positions.
The initial start of the race was stopped after a multi-truck collision involving Fabio Citignola’s Tankpool24 Racing Mercedes-Benz and David Jenkins’ MAN brought out the red flags.
With Citignola’s truck beached in the gravel at turn one and debris on the track the field returned to the grid for a full re-start.
Also affected in the incident were Jose Rodrigues, Luis Recuenco and Erwin Kleinnagelvoort who all had to take avoiding action in the melee. Recuenco was forced to start from the pit lance after pitting to receive repairs while Citignola was a confirmed retirement.
At the re-start semi-reverse grid pole sitter Terry Gibbon swamped by the pack with Rene Reinert able to get ahead at the end of the first lap. Norbert Kiss followed suit and the pair pulled away at the front while Gibbon valiantly defended third position.
When Dominique Orsini stopped his Mercedes-Benz on the main straight at the end of his first lap a Full Course Yellow period was called to neutralise the pack.
This then became another red flag after Orsini stopped his truck partially on track at the first corner.
At the second re-start, which this time saw the grid form on the basis of the order at the point in which the stoppage occurred, Rene Reinert led away from Kiss for the now 10-lap encounter and took the chequered flag just ahead of Halm and the chasing pack.
Race one winner Jochen Hahn spent most of the race shadowing Lacko but despite some pressure was unable to claim fifth place. Hahn though came away from Saturday with an extend lead of 79pts in teh title race.
Andre Kursim finished seventh ahead of an impressive Sascha Lenz who took three points after a superb drive from the back of the grid after issues in race one. Lenz caught Kursim on the final lap but just fell short of claiming another position.
Jose Rodrigues placed ninth in his Reboconorte MAN after recovering from the first start incident in which he spun dramatically but emerged with relatively little damage.
In the GRAMMER TRUCK CUP it was Oly Janes who triumphed for Buggyra Racing to extend his points lead. The British driver led home Jose-Eduardo Rodrigues and Jamie Anderson who completed the podium.
Terry Gibbon the winner of the GRAMMER TRUCK CUP in race one saw his third place at the second red flag come to nothing as he was forced to start the race from the pit lane after a battery issue. He eventually finished fourth in class but ahead of the delayed Luis Recuenco who also took a drive through penalty.
David Jenkins was the final classified finisher after being penalised three times for a succession of infractions.
Erwin Kleinnagelvoort retired early after pulling off the track with some damage to his Scania truck.
RACE RESULTS HERE