ANDERSON TAKES FIRST OVERALL WIN AS TITAN DRIVER
Having been on the cusp of getting a win throughout the season, Jamie Anderson got the job done in Le Mans Race Two, with a compelling drive and defence to hold off some of the biggest names in truck racing.
It was a chaotic start as the sun set over the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit. The grid looked to get away clean, but going through the Dunlop Chicane Steffi Halm and André Kursim ended up running wide and off track. Upon returning to the field, both picked up positions and were handed five second penalties for going off track and gaining an advantage. This would come back to hurt Halm later in the race, taking away the podium and almost win she had fought very hard for.
Through the chaos, Anderson found himself at the front of the pack. Knowing the reverse grid meant the likes of Norbert Kiss, Jochen Hahn and Antonio Albacete would be charging through the field, he did what he could to pull out a lead. Progress for the trio was slowed, with Promoter’s Cup winner José Eduardo Rodriguez proving a strong defensive driver, which gave Anderson the buffer he needed in the dying moments of the race.
Anderson had Halm for company for most of the race, hanging off his rear bumper by 0.3 seconds. Even though if Halm had passed Anderson she would have needed a five second gap to hold onto the lead.
Anderson was determined to take the win outright and put on a great defensive display to give Halm no opportunity to pass.
Albacete, Kiss and Hahn were all pushing hard to close in on the leading duo, but Anderson – with the help of Rodriguez – did everything he needed to make sure there wasn’t enough time left in the race to make the pass. Anderson took his first win of the season, his first as a Titan-class driver.
After her five second penalty was added, Halm dropped to fifth on the grid, losing the podium to Albacete and Kiss and also losing a place to her fellow 'Die Bullen von Iveco' teammate Hahn.
It was a tall order for Sascha Lenz to get on track for the second race after the team completed an entire front axle change.
It was a tribute to the team’s hard work and efforts of the #OneTruckFamily to make sure all 14 vehicles lined up on the grid. Lenz made sure that the close call at the start didn’t affect his racing, pushing hard to climb from 14th to sixth come the chequered flag.
Rodriguez was seventh overall, taking another Promoter’s Cup win to clean sweep Saturday, ahead of André Kursim, who dropped the position after his five second penalty, having finished seventh on track. The duo had fought hard together as they fell behind the other Titan drivers, giving the rest of the grid a bit of a headache as they attempted to demote them of positions.
The other Promoter’s Cup podium finishers Steffen Faas and Clemens Hecker completed the top ten.
John Newell and Luis Recuenco were the only other finishers of the race – 11th and 12th respectively, fourth and fifth in Promoter’s Cup – as Mark Taylor and José Rodriguez made contact on the first lap, causing them both to retire from the race. Taylor’s casualty was a suspension failure, with Rodriguez Snr not finishing the race due to heavy damage on the rear left and a flat tyre.
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