KISS DOMINATES IN RACE 1 AS CHROME CLASS HEATS UP
In one of the most closely contested Chrome class races of the season, Norbert Kiss extended his championship lead, getting ever closer to his sixth title for the first race of the weekend.
The Hungarian led from lights to flag, fending off an early attack from Jochen Hahn to retain the lead into Turn 1. The German tried to get alongside Kiss to steal the inside line for the switch back under the Dunlop Bridge but Kiss already had his truck cleanly in front by time they got to this part of the circuit. From there, it was business as usual as Kiss disappeared down the road, taking victory with a five second buffer on his closest championship rival.
Antonio Albacete had a lonely race to come over the line third as the action all unravelled behind him.
Sascha Lenz, who was looking to make up for a difficult qualifying, was quick to start climbing the order, interested in José Eduardo Rodrigues’ sixth place off the line. It was a poor start from Halm who saw herself fall behind the duo as they battled into T1. The two got close, with a bit of bodywork rubbing, but enough space was left for no one to leave the track. A few bits of bodywork missing later, and Lenz had fifth.
Next down the road was André Kursim, who Lenz made light work of. But Kursim, who confirmed Jarama will be his last race with Don’t Touch Racing ahead of Race 1, was not going to give up fourth easily. It took Lenz a few laps, and a clever move around the outside of Turn 8 to position himself on the inside of Turn 10, before he finally made the move stick.
By the time he had passed, Albacete had too much of a lead for him to be able to close up before the chequered flag, even if he was faster than the Spaniard. In their battle for third in the championships, advantage goes to Albacete.
Kursim managed to hold off Halm in the closing stages of the race, seeing them finish fifth and sixth respectively, making the top six full of Titan drivers.
Rodrigues crossed the line seventh overall, first in Chrome, but he had to fight for it. Whether some bodywork damage caused him to drop pace or he was struggling to find the rhythm of the Le Mans Bugatti circuit, he quickly became the cork in the bottle for the chasing Chrome drivers. However he defended well, making passing him for the lead pretty much impossible.
Lukas Hahn had an attempt after falling back in the Chrome class that, at one point, had the top five all within a second of each other. Mark Taylor also had an attempt at passing the class leader, but it all ended in no avail as Rodrigues crossed the line first.
The battle for second in Chrome continues on, with Faas being the driver to come out on top today. Taylor and he found themselves squabbling for the bottom step of the podium, each knowing that whichever driver ended ahead would probably be second in the standings. The racing was close, but respectful as they danced around each other.
Disaster stuck Taylor in the penultimate lap as what seemed to be a technical issue saw him drop out of the third-place fight. Upon review, it was revealed that the two came together. Although it was under investigation at the chequered flag it is assumed that no further action will be taken on the racing incident.
Taking advantage of Taylor’s late race drop, Clemens Hecker and John Newell jumped to fourth and fifth in Chrome respectively. Thanks to his second-place finish in class, Lukas Hahn will be on reverse pole for Race 2, sharing the front row with Rodrigues.
After his best qualifying of the season, an impressive feat after missing Most due to a back injury, Luke Garrett crossed the line P13 overall, P7 in Chrome. He lost most of his positions at the race start, doing well to keep pace with the podium finishers.
All 18 trucks crossed the chequered flag, with Luis Recuenco leading Craig Reid, Bradley Smith, Stefan Kursch and Simon Faulkner to their first classifications at Le Mans Bugatti.
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