Rene Reinert scored another victory in the 2016 FIA European Truck Racing Championship season in the second race at Nogaro on Saturday evening.
Rene Reinert scored another victory in the 2016 FIA European Truck Racing Championship season in the second race at Nogaro on Saturday evening. The German added the win to his Red Bull Ring victory at the end of April and consolidated his third placed position in the standings.
The reversed race two grid saw unaccustomed pole man Eduardo Rodrigues quickly swamped by the pack on the first lap, and the Portuguese racer emerged back in eighth position as the field crossed the line to start the second tour.
Grabbing the lead in a frantic opening to the race was Ellen Lohr in her Truck Sport Lutz Bernau MAN truck. The wily German led Rene Reinert, Jochen Hahn and Adam Lacko at the end of the first lap.
Soon Reinert was through in to the lead after a decisive move on Lohr. Reinert then put the hammer down to build a small gap to the chasing pack.
Lohr defended briefly from a threatening Jochen Hahn, but the pressure eventually saw the multiple champion find a way past Lohr on lap three. Adam Lacko immediately went through too, as Lohr then fell back in to the clutches of Anthony Janiec, who survived some contact with poleman Rodrigues on the opening lap.
At the front Hahn quickly caught leader Reinert, and the two German friends engaged in a fascinating duel. Trading fastest laps, Hahn ducked and weaved this way and that to try and squeeze his blue and white MAN truck through to the lead on the tight Nogaro circuit.
At the halfway mark Hahn was just 0.2s off Reinert’s rear wheels but was still unable to find a way by. Matters seemed to be coming to a head in the final laps but despite his best efforts, Hahn was unable to make a clean move and was forced to settle for second position. It was frustrating for Hahn who set the fastest lap of the race by over half a second!
Adam Lacko made it a second podium of the day for his No.55 Buggyra International Racing System Freightliner ‘Fatfox’. The Czech’s eight points, as opposed to Hahn’s nine, mean that the gap between them at the top of the drivers table is now just six in total. However, there was further drama after the race as Lacko was placed under investigation for over-speeding. However, the resulting 10-second penalty for Lacko did not affect the result of the race.
An equally entertaining battle for fourth position continued to rage with Lohr able to impressively resist Anthony Janiec’s Lion Truck Racing machine. Janiec, the only Frenchman in the field, was truly fired-up as he had received a three place grid drop after the first race.
This battle was soon joined by race one victor Norbert Kiss. The Tankpool24 Racing driver latched on to Janiec’s tail but was unable to find a way through. Kiss’ Mercedes-Benz truck was itself soon under pressure, as a charging Steffi Halm made it a quartet of drivers battling over fourth place.
The four – Lohr, Janiec, Kiss and Halm - lapped almost as one for the second phase of the race but despite the intense action no manoeuvres were made and Lohr held on for an impressive fourth position, her best of the season so far.
Completing the points was Sascha Lenz in eighth, Jiri Forman in ninth and Erwin Kleinnagelvoort in tenth, the Dutchman holding off Eduardo Rodrigues who suffered some damage after the contact with Janiec.
Team Reinert Adventure duo Rene Reinert and Jochen Hahn sealed the teams points. The Wow! Women on Wheels pairing of Ellen Lohr and Steffi Halm netted second position, while the Buggyra 1969 duo of Lacko and Forman took third.
Races three and four of the Nogaro round take place tomorrow and are scheduled for 14.10 and 16.50 local time respectively.
Click here for the full race two result
You can follow all the action at the FIA ETRC Race Centre Live which includes live timing, live text commentary and the Truck Tracer circuit map. Click here to access.