LENZ AND TAYLOR EXTEND CHAMPIONSHIP ADVANTAGES AMIDST KISS VICTORY
Norbert Kiss has taken his 18th win of the season as Sascha Lenz and Mark Taylor do what they need to to stay ahead in the overall and Chrome championship battles.
The 2024 Drivers’ Champion did not put a tyre wrong as he soared to a lights-to-flag victory, converting his pole position into the win by just over six seconds. He defended from Lenz going into the first corner to hold onto the lead he would never relinquish.
Lenz’ second place gives him another three points on Antonio Albacete as they battled for third in the overall standings. The German never looked to have too much of a threat from behind, as he tried to chase down Kiss, keeping a clear three seconds between the pair throughout the race.
Albacete did manage to hold onto third and take another podium this season after Jochen Hahn was fighting him all the way to the chequered flag. There were a couple of moments where he looked like he would make the pass but Albacete defended well to give the Spanish crowd a home hero to cheer for.
José Eduardo Rodrigues drove a stellar race to take another Chrome victory, holding off André Kursim and Steffi Halm to score overall P5. Halm attempted to pass Kursim in the middle stage of the race, but the tightness of the Jarama circuit made finding the space to make the pass difficult.
As well as adding another three points to his Chrome P2 advantage, Mark Taylor’s second in class, eighth overall, gifts him reverse pole for Race 2. This aids his championship chances again, as rival Steffen Faas finished P9, Chrome P3, meaning he does not benefit from the reverse grid and seven trucks will split the two.
John Newell rounded off the overall top ten, fourth in class, as all but Luis Recuenco started where they finished. Recuenco had some contact with Taylor going into the first corner, and albeit no damage came of his truck, he was squeezed into the gravel and lost positions. He managed to pass Luke Garrett and Craig Reid before the chequered flag, but was only able to finish P14 overall.
As Lukas Hahn is not racing this weekend, the points difference between Newell and Clemens Hecker and Recuenco finishing P4, P7 and P8 in Chrome respectively, means Newell has confirmed fourth place in the final Chrome standings.
Jonathan André was defending from Bradley Smith to take fifth and sixth in class, 11th and 12th overall, ahead of Hecker, Recuenco, Garrett – whose season long steering issues have returned this weekend – and Reid for the final classification. Ongoing issues for Simon Faulkner saw him unable to take to the grid for Race 1. He is hoping to partake in the second race of the day later this afternoon.
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