CHAMPIONSHIP LEADS EXTENDED BY KISS AND RODRIGUES
The duo who dominated Saturday have continued with their perfect weekend on Sunday as Norbert Kiss and José Eduardo Rodrigues took Titan and Chrome wins respectively yet again.
As has become the textbook Kiss style, the Hungarian got a great start off the line and led the field away to retain the lead he would not give up before the chequered flag. Jochen Hahn slotted in behind for a trouble-free drive to second, whilst Sascha Lenz added more points to his championship hopes, passing Antonio Albacete in the Titan standings with his third place.
Lenz and Albacete made quick work of André Kursim, passing the German as they swooped through Turn 1. The battle for P3 became neck and neck in the closing stages of the race, as both Albacete and Kursim looked to be trying to find a way past Lenz. The podium finisher defended hard but fair as he crossed the line with only six-tenths separating the trio.
Steffi Halm was passed by Rodrigues in the opening stages of the race. She gave it everything to get the position back before the end of the eight laps but the Portuguese driver kept almost a second between them to see him cross the line ahead. Finishing sixth in the Titan order, and taking seventh on the track will see Halm once again on the reverse grid front row.
She will be joined by Mark Taylor on reverse grid pole who, after a better qualifying than yesterday, had a quiet race to second place on the Chrome podium.
John Newell had looked to have a strong comeback after his turbocharger issues hindered his qualifying earlier and had been incredibly quick off the line. It seemed there may be some residing issues with the Newell truck, however, as he was off the pace once the race settled down, lapping around two seconds a lap slower than Taylor. He still claimed third in Chrome, but missed out on a reverse grid promotion meaning he will have many trucks between him and his Chrome rivals for Race 4.
Luis Recuenco came across the line tenth, fourth in Chrome class, along with the only other classified driver, Steffen Faas. It wasn’t an easy race for Faas, though, as an electrical issue that cut the engine affected the start of his race – seeing the 12th-place starter drop right off the back of the pack – and the end. He had done well to fight back into the lapping trucks, but the return of the electrical issue hurt his pace and gave back the one position on Recuenco he had managed to make.
Luke Garrett added another DNF to his 2024 Goodyear FIA ETRC campaign due to another steering failure. The Brit went straight off at Turn 5 unable to turn his MAN, retiring on lap two.
It is unclear if Garrett and Faas will take to the grid for Race 4.
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