Téo Calvet put up a spectacular fight on Saturday afternoon, only losing out to Jochen Hahn.
The second race at Misano was a brilliant drive from Calvet, who found himself defending from Hahn, Norbert Kiss, Sascha Lenz and Adam Lacko (the four top championship contenders) throughout the 12 laps of racing. To only have lost out to Hahn by the chequered flag showed excellent skill, speed and race craft from the Frenchman.
René Reinert was the first to make a move to demote Calvet from the lead, getting an excellent start from P2 on the grid. It was a sign of things to come, however, Calvet utilised the left-right change of direction of the Misano Circuit to position himself on the inside of Turn 2 to get the better line through the corner and reclaim the lead.
It was a train of trucks led by Calvet as the top ten were covered by five seconds with no more than half a second between each truck. Calvet’s race management from the front was inspired as, after being passed by Hahn on lap seven, he kept everyone else behind.
Kiss, who took the championship earlier today, had a brilliant drive up from seventh on the grid to third. He tried a few times to make the pass on Calvet for the additional point second would have given him but was unable to make the pass stick. Lacko also tried to steal a position whilst Calvet and Kiss were fighting, but the Czech driver could finish no higher than fifth.
Unfortunately for Lacko’s championship hopes, Lenz also made a great recovery through the field after starting eighth and managed to pass him before the chequered flag, meaning he extends his lead in second in the championship with two races to go.
Coming second in the Goodyear Cup, Jamie Anderson crossed the line sixth, followed closely by Antonio Albacete and Goodyear Cup leader Shane Brereton. Calvet’s class win has brought Brereton a little closer – two points gained now make Brereton’s championship lead 27 points. For Calvet to take the battle down to Race 4, he needs to win Race 3 tomorrow and have Brereton eighth or lower in class.
Steffen Faas and Lukas Hahn rounded off the top ten, narrowly missing out on a Goodyear Cup podium appearance.
Aliyyah Koloc kept up her consistency of finishing 11th, and crossed the line ahead of Anthony Janiec, who had an early race incident with Brereton. The Brit spun Janiec off the track, but the incident was deemed a racing incident with no further action required.
The two non-finishers of Steffi Halm and René Reinert completed the order, with Halm suffering a slow puncture and engine fire during the race. Reinert retired after contact with Anderson forced him into the pits.
Off the back of the heavy damage suffered in Race 1, André Kursim did not start the second race of the weekend. Hopefully he will be back on track tomorrow for the final day of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship in 2021.
Full results of race 2 HERE