JARAMA SET FOR SEASON FINALE SPECTACULAR
The Goodyear FIA ETRC enters its final round of the season straight off the highs of Le Mans. With the Driver’s and Team’s championships wrapped up, all eyes now turn to the Promoter’s Cup to find out who will take last honours.
Race Three in Le Mans saw Norbert Kiss claim his fifth Goodyear FIA ETRC title, while his performance alongside Antonio Albacete secured Révész & T Sport the Team’s championship. However the battle for second in the championship is still going strong, with Jochen Hahn holding the advantage over Sascha Lenz and Albacete. Hahn enjoys more than a 40 point advantage on the duo, but Lenz and Albacete are separated only by a couple of points.
Jamie Anderson’s win in Race Two has helped him close the points gap between him and the contenders for fourth in the championship, Steffi Halm and André Kursim. Having missed the first round of the championship due to the birth of his first child, the Brit had been trailing the duo in seventh throughout the season. As the championship’s finish line is in sight, Halm has a slim eight-point lead over Anderson, with Kursim just six points behind, setting the stage for an intense battle in the final four races.
The Promoter’s Cup seems to be in the bag for José Eduardo Rodrigues, who will only need a class victory in Race One to secure the title.
The battle of the Brits for third place continues as John Newell and Mark Taylor have been trading performance throughout the season. Just eight points split the two with four races left in the season. After both took a podium in Le Mans, they will be looking to add more silverware to their 2023 campaigns and take the bottom step of the podium. Regardless of who takes third, it’s been an impressive rookie season for both of them.
After two Promoter’s Cup wins and one Overall victory on Sunday at Le Mans, Luis Recuenco added a strong points tally to his championship campaign. His fifth-placed rival, Clemens Hecker, had a good Saturday with two class podiums, but couldn’t maintain that form info Sunday’s races. Hecker now trails Recuenco by 16 points. While the 60 points available over the weekend offer a chance for recovery, Recuenco seems to have a firm grip on fifth place in the Promoter’s Cup standings.
The grid grows to 15 this weekend with José Rodrigues Snr staying in the field as a race-by-race entry in the Titan class and Jonathan André returning to Promoter’s Cup for the last event of the year.