ANDERSON DEFIES KISS FOR INAUGURAL OVERALL WIN
The dust was flying in the second race at the Slovakia Ring as Jamie Anderson defended hard to hold onto reverse pole claiming his first Goodyear FIA ETRC overall victory.
For the first six laps of the race, it was Antonio Albacete Anderson had in his mirrors, with the Spaniard pushing the Chrome driver hoping he would make a mistake and open the door to the lead. But Anderson kept a cool head and did everything he needed to, to stay ahead and hold a steady lead of around three seconds.
Norbert Kiss, having started in eighth, was putting on a masterclass of overtaking as he carved through the field, making his Revesz Racing truck look like it was in a class of its own. A notable dive past Sascha Lenz and an inside move around Stephanie Halm with nothing between the two as they raced side-by-side were highlights of Kiss’ ascent to third on the grid.
Albacete did not make it easy for the reigning champion, giving Anderson the breathing room he likely needed to keep Kiss behind in the final two laps. For three laps the Titan drivers danced around each other, sometimes with barely a gap between them, and Albacete was making his truck as wide as the circuit. Kiss finally got the move lined up going into the final corner to pass Albacete and demote him to third with two laps to go.
The three second advantage Anderson had disappeared within a lap, leaving Kiss right on his fender going into lap Eight. Once again, Anderson displayed great calmness under pressure and, although Kiss was right on his tail, managed to hold off the attack to take the win by 0.197s at the flag.
Jochen Hahn held off a late attack from Lenz in the last few laps, keeping fourth ahead of his championship rival, with Adam Lacko and Steffi Halm getting a bit close in their battle for sixth. It was questionable whether one had been pushed off the track, as Lacko demoted Halm, but the investigation yielded no further action.
Andre Kursim had a quiet race after starting third, falling down the order in the battles to cross the line P8, two seconds off Lacko and Halm.
With Anderson winning overall, he also took victory in Promoter’s Cup, with second place Jose Rodrigues down in ninth overall. Steffen Faas ended the day on a high with two class podiums, holding off Teo Calvet, who had to settle for fourth in class.
All fourteen trucks crossed the line, with Shane Brereton leading Clemens Hecker and Luis Recuenco to the chequered flag to complete the order.
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