CHROME CHAMPION CROWNED WITH LE MANS MASTERCLASS
José Eduardo Rodrigues has claimed the Chrome class championship with an event to spare after displaying dominance, speed and incredible race craft throughout 2024.
From the beginning of the season, all eyes were on the young Portuguese driver, who secured his second Chrome title in the final race around Le Mans Bugatti. He proved his abilities in 2023, shifting the question from “Can he do it again?” to “How far can he go?”.
Rodrigues has frequently battled with the Titans this season, giving Steffi Halm, André Kursim and Antonio Albacete headaches at more rounds than not. Le Mans was no different. Nailing defensive positions when the Titans came knocking, Rodrigues became the stopper in the bottle, racing to four top-six overall finishes and one overall victory.
The weekend belonged to the new old Chrome champion, who was in a league of his own.
With the title wrapped up, attention turns to the second-place fight, which remains neck-and-neck between Mark Taylor and Steffen Faas. When Taylor had a bad session, Faas was there to capitalise, but the same held true the other way around. Although he struggled through Saturday, Taylor's Sunday performance put him back ahead of the German, giving him a 4 points advantage heading into Jarama.
It seemed Faas would use Le Mans to regain the advantage, achieving two class third places on Saturday while Taylor struggled to finish in the top four. Faas entered Sunday’s race with three points in hand, placing the pressure on Taylor to fight back.However, track limits became the thorn in Faas’s side, costing him in qualifying and almost derailing his Race 3, where he picked up two track limit warnings and faced investigation for a third (this was not upheld, saving Faas from a 25-second penalty).The two drivers are separated by just four points as we head to Spain, with Taylor having scored one additional point over Faas during the Le Mans weekend. This battle will undoubtedly be the one to watch on track.
John Newell had a strong weekend at Le Mans, and although he left without a podium, he solidified his position in fourth in the championship. The 20-point lead he holds over fifth-placed Lukas Hahn will be hard to overcome, since Hahn will not race in Jarama. Newell's next closest rival is Luis Recuenco in sixth, who is 49 points behind. With 60 points left to be scored, it’s possible for Recuenco to pass the Brit, but unless Newell experiences a DNF in Race 1, he is likely to confirm his fourth place in the standings after the first event.
Considering Hahn has only competed in three rounds, it’s a testament to his performance and speed that he sits fifth in the standings. Luis Recuenco sits 29-points behind which will not make this an easy feat for the Spaniard; simply finishing the races may not be enough. His average score this season is 21 points per round, which would not suffice to surpass Hahn.
The battle Recuenco will be more focused on is his fight for sixth with Clemens Hecker. Just five points separate the duo after both scored exactly the same points at Le Mans.
Luke Garrett made a successful return to the Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship after missing Most due to a back issue. With 17 points to his name, it was his most successful race weekend of the season so far.
Bradley Smith showed good form again this weekend, delivering a strong performance to add another eight points to his campaign. With 12 trucks on the Chrome grid this weekend, points were not guaranteed, so the young Brit will be pleased to have scored in every race. He will also be eyeing a potential full-season drive with Don’t Touch Racing next season after Kursim announced that he would be parting ways with the team after Jarama.
Stefan Kursch, Craig Reid and Simon Faulkner were race-by-race entries at Le Mans, with Reid and Faulkner getting their first taste of Goodyear FIA ETRC racing. Apart from Reid retiring from the last race of the weekend due to overheating, all three newcomers on the 2024 grid managed to finish all their races.
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