RODRIGUES TAKES FIRST OVERALL VICTORY
A brilliant move on Mark Taylor into the first corner has given José Eduardo Rodrigues his first overall victory in the Goodyear FIA ETRC
Starting from third on the grid after finishing Race Three sixth, eyes had been on Steffi Halm and Taylor on the front row as to who would come out on top. Halm was looking to recuperate from her slow and steady start to the day, another overall win in her sights.
But a bad start saw Taylor putting her under pressure as they raced towards the first corner, lining up the inside line to get the pounce on the Titan driver. So focused on defending the Brit, neither of them saw Rodrigues advancing on the outside, looking for the switchback into Turn 2. Albeit not managing to make the leap into the lead, with Halm going a little wide he was able to follow Taylor through into second, not allowing his closest Chrome rival to disappear down the track.
It didn’t take long for Rodrigues to line Taylor up, making it look too easy as he dispatched his rival. Not having the pace of the Titans, Taylor was busied by defending from Halm and Antonio Albacete behind to try and hold onto an overall podium, unable to do anything as Rodrigues disappeared in front of him.
Slightly further back, Norbert Kiss had been boxed by Jochen Hahn off the start, unable to make any positions up going into Turn 1. The German did everything he could to keep his championship rival behind as the pair moved through the field, Sascha Lenz hanging onto Kiss’ rear bumper to also make progress through the field. It was slow progress for the trio, but after a tight pass on André Kursim that dropped Lenz off their train of attack, they were lining up a pass on Albacete.
Albacete, however, was not ready to give up the position lightly, and defended hard against Hahn. The pair came together, light contact seeing Albacete pitched off the circuit and Hahn losing positions on track, allowing Kiss to get past the pair with little drama. Hahn managed to get back behind Kiss, but the incident saw Albacete dropped down the field behind Lenz and Kursim. He crossed the line eighth unable to make up any positions after he was almost taken out of the race.
With just Chrome drivers in front of him, Kiss made driving to his 20th podium of the season look like child’s place, securing second due to Rodrigues’ five second lead on Taylor when Kiss inherited the position. Hahn was also able to pass the Brit, taking third on the overall podium and causing Taylor to just miss out on his first overall appearance.
Taylor was fourth, second on the Chrome podium to solidify his second-in-class standing, with Lenz fifth as he managed to demote Halm to sixth. Kursim was seventh ahead of Albacete, and Steffen Faas ended the weekend with a positive result, taking nineth overall, third on the Chrome podium.
John Newell rounded out the top ten after a late race off track moment for Clemens Hecker dropped him out of the points. He finished 11th ahead of Luis Recuenco and Bradley Smith for another full classification to end the racing in Most.
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