POLE TO VICTORY IN RAIN DELAYED RACE ONE
Norbert Kiss has taken the first win of the weekend in a rain-delayed Race One.
There was a 45-minute delay to the first race of the weekend after heavy rainfall caused the track to be too dangerous to start the race on time. Once the formation lap got underway, there was a lap under safety car conditions before the grid was released to go racing.
Kiss used the safety car lap to build a nice gap, having no threat off the line when the track went green. In typical Kiss style, he disappeared down the road and finished the race with over a 20 second lead, fearing no attack from the competition behind him.
The fight for the other two podium spots was much closer, as Antonio Albacete, Sascha Lenz and Jochen Hahn kept the fight going to the chequered flag, crossing the line six tenths apart. Hahn had seemed to have the advantage, getting up to second soon after the track went green, but a mistake saw him drop behind the chasing duo to fourth. It would become a deciding moment of the race as, even pushing hard, Lenz defended perfectly to protect third, relegating his fellow countryman off the podium.
Behind the fighting trio, Jamie Anderson had looked set to convert his fifth-place start into a fifth place finish. For five of the seven racing laps, he held station well, not clatching the front quartet.
Steffi Halm had other ideas, slowly bringing down the gap. Once she had passed José Eduardo Rodrigues, it wasn’t long before she was right on the back of Anderson’s bumper.
Anderson tried to hold her behind, but a beautifully executed move around the outside of Turn 6 saw Halm up to fifth, Anderson having to settle for sixth.
André Kursim also managed to pass the Promoter’s Cup winner to take seventh, and will share the front row with Rodrigues for Race 2 later this afternoon. He did well to recover after a mid-race overtake attempt saw him running very wide off track into the grass run off, losing a few places.
Steffen Faas and Luis Recuenco had a back and forth race, switching second and third in Promoter’s Cup until the last couple of laps of the race. Faas had looked to have the advantage, but it was Recuenco who came out supreme to take second in Promoter’s Cup.
Still learning the track, John Newell and Mark Taylor did well to handle their trucks on the drying circuit, coming across the line 11th and 12threspectively. With the mixed conditions, it was great to see all 12 trucks cross the line with minimal damage.
Due to the delayed start to Race 1, Race 2 will get underway at 17:20 CEST to round off day one’s running.
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