HAHN REMAINS ON CHARGE AS FAAS CLOSES IN ON RODRIGUES’ CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD
As he showed in his race-by-race appearance in Pozńan, Lukas Hahn is certainly a force to be reckoned with in the Goodyear FIA ETRC Promoter’s Cup. Taking three class wins over the weekend, he slowed José Eduardo Rodrigues’ mission to build his championship lead over Steffen Faas, the latter of which had a much better performance at the Nürburgring to close the gap to the Portuguese driver at the top of the standings.
At his home race, Hahn was the crowd pleaser, bringing four podium appearances, three of which were class victories. During a front row start for reverse grid in Race 2 he had looked at repeating his overall victory from 2022, but this time it wasn’t meant to be. It was another fantastic weekend for the young German who, if he fielded a full season campaign, would be a real worry for the other Chrome class drivers.
Faas got back on the right foot after a quiet showing last time out in Poland, featuring on every Promoter’s Cup podium of the weekend, taking class victory in Race 2. Consistently outperforming Rodrigues, Faas has moved the points buffer down to 13 in Rodrigues’ favour, as we move past the halfway point of the season.
Although featuring on two of the four Promoter’s Cup podiums, it was a slight non-event for Rodrigues. He raced well, and scored impressively, but missing out on class pole to Hahn on both times of asking and failing to utilise the reverse grid to his advantage, saw Faas make more of a dent than he would have wanted in his championship lead. Whether or not Hahn will feature on the Most grid at the end of August remains to be announced, but Rodrigues will likely be hoping not to retake his position on the grid as ‘man to chase’.
Mark Taylor showed that Pozńan wasn’t a fluke, producing more great results around the Nürburgring. He really seems to have started to settle himself as a strong mid-field contender in the Promoter’s Cup, picking up podiums and claiming top five finishes in class at almost every event. The Brit certainly looks to have found his rhythm and has really got comfortable racing in the Goodyear FIA ETRC with his MAN machine.
Clemens Hecker took a comfortable third place in Race 1, the height of his weekend as he battled with John Newell, Luis Recuenco and race-by-race entry Erwin Kleinnagelvoort. The quartet held the battle of qualifying, with none of the four able to put in a Super Pole appearance over the two qualifying sessions.
Newell’s earlier round strong performances put him at the head of the tail-fight in the Promoter’s Cup, 110 points over Recuenco’s 87 and Hecker’s 72. With just two race appearances, Hahn’s very strong form has seen him jump the trio to sit fourth in the points standings, behind Rodrigues, Faas and Taylor in the podium positions.
Recuenco saw himself plagued with a few technical issues during the event in Germany, but in typical #Onetruckfamily style, the paddock rallied together to make sure he, and all 15 competitors for the weekend, could take the grid for all four races. Suspension issues seemed to be Recuenco’s main concern, so he and his team will be focusing on amending that ahead of Round 5 at the Autodrom Most.
Rodrigues still leads Hahn for the Young Driver’s Championship Trophy, despite Hahn’s spectacular performance this weekend. Pending on how many more rounds Hahn takes part in will see if he can mount a charge to Rodrigues before the end of the year and add another trophy to his ever-growing cabinet.
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