Reinert at last in Goodyear FIA ETCR Race 2
René Reinert is finally a winner at the Nürburgring following “50 tries” after he triumphed in the second of four scheduled Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship counters at the famous German venue this afternoon (Saturday).
MAN-powered Reinert started Race 2 from the partially-reversed grid in second position but quickly demoted polesitter Mark Taylor for top spot before pulling clear for his first victory of 2026 as José Eduardo Rodrigues and Steffi Halm completed the podium.
And having come within 0.010s of taking the Race 2 win at Slovakia Ring last month, the result was particularly satisfying for German driver Reinert, especially following a nervy final few moments before action got under way, as he explained.
“In the beginning it was stressful, I forget to switch on my brake water and it was not good at the beginning,” Reinert said. “But then it was working well with the temperatures and everything and I tried to find my rhythm. Mark blocked the rest of the field behind me, so it was perfect.
“We was next to each other in the first corner and second corner and in the third corner I brake in the corner, he was already on the outside, and I overtake him, it was fair, he left me the space so all good. It’s my first win at Nürburgring after 50 tries, second place, third place but never a win.”
While Reinert was able to celebrate overall success, Bradley Smith was the top Chrome finisher for the first time in 2026 after he pulled off a spectacular pass on John Newell. Lukas Hahn finished third in Chrome from 17th on the grid.
“It’s nice to have a win,” said Smith. “I had a good start and when I saw Mark had pulled into the pits that put us up to second. Then I was able to overtake John out of the last corner, pulled a little gap and played it safe to bring it home and came away with the win.
“I was literally touching the [pit] wall when I did my move on John, it was that close – he wouldn’t let me breathe! I tried the move a lap before but a truck pulled out of the pitlane so I had to back out of it, but I managed to get it done on the next lap, so it was good.
“We’re getting there with the truck, first time here with it and still getting used to it but I’m happy, we’re making progress.”
Newell said: “It was a good battle with Bradley, it was good fun, I was laughing all the way round to be honest with you, it was that good. I just cooked the tyres a bit mid-race and that were it. I had a little go on the last lap, but it was just a little bit too late.”
For Lukas Hahn, the Chrome podium made up for his Race 1 exit due to tyre damage. “I’m very happy, I keep cool,” he said. “I start from behind and watch what the other guys are doing. It was good, we go to P3 in the Chrome category and I’m very happy for my team. They rebuilt the truck so quickly
In the battle for the overall podium, José Eduardo Rodrigues finished 1.992s behind Reinert in second as Steffi Halm resisted huge pressure from championship leader Norbert Kiss during the last lap as she secured third place.
Kiss, who started eighth on the grid after he won Race 1 this morning, settled for fourth ahead of Sascha Lenz, Jochen Hahn, Antonio Albacete and Smith.
After claiming her third podium of the season, IVECO-powered Halm said: “I had a normal start but I couldn’t gain a position. I saw Mark was a little bit slower, José tried to overtake but there was no chance. Then Mark made a little mistake, and we were lucky we can both pass and made a little gap. The last two or three laps were hard because I saw Norbi had overtaken Sascha, and I knew he would close quickly so we had to fight because he’s so much faster. The last lap was really hard, and I was lucky it was the last one because every braking point I go on the inside so he couldn’t cut in, it worked and I’m really happy for me and also for the team because we finished on the podium.”
Rodrigues, who overtook Taylor for second on lap six, added: “It’s very good after the problems with the smoke [yesterday]. I need points for the championship and the first two races have been very good for this. It’s the best result possible. Mark failed the braking point and I pass. After this I tried to control my pace and control the position, it was not possible to try for the lead.”
Albacete could have finished fourth but lost out at Turn 1 on lap five when Jochen Hahn made contact and overtook, the Spaniard losing a further position when Kiss followed Hahn through. Kiss was then able to demote Hahn at Turn 1 on lap seven, completing a move that began on the run to the chicane on the previous tour.
Newell and Lukas Hahn rounded out the top 10 with Steffen Faas 11th and returning former champion Adam Lacko 12th from the back of the grid.
Luis Recuenco, Jonathan André and Luke Garrett completed the top 15 with Emma Mäkinen 16th. Stefan Kursch and the unfortunate Taylor were the final classified finishers in 17th and 18th respectively, but Clemens Hecker missed out with damage.
Having run as high as second for the first half of the race, Taylor was given a drive-through for multiple over-speeding offences but being black-flagged for a third offence.
The Goodyear FIA ETRC action continues at the Nürburgring tomorrow (Sunday) with Warm-up from 08:00 local time followed by second qualifying from 09:00. The 12-lap Race 3 is due to get under way at 11:55 with the weekend-deciding Race 4 set for 16:05, again over 12 laps. Watch live on YouTube, click HERE for live timing and follow the Sportity app using the password: FIA_ETRC_26 for results.
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