Adam Lacko won the fifth race of FIA European Truck Racing Championship at Hungary, driving a Freightliner for team Buggyra.
Team CV
The fifth round of FIA European Truck Racing Championship at the Hungaroring saw Norbert Kiss clock the fastest lap in his tankpool24 Mercedes in the first race, a day prior to the final race. The two other drivers that came close were an Englishman Ryan Smith in a MAN truck, and German Iveco pilot Jochen Hahn. As the Hungarian fans streamed into the paddock with the sun shining bright, Steffi Halm managed to close the gap between her and the leader to around eight tenths of a second. She was placed fourth. Warm air tilting the scale in favour of tyre conservation, Adam Lacko, David Vršecký, and Sascha Lenz followed Kiss, Halm and Hahn into the pits after a single flying lap. The Portuguese José Rodrigues, Englishman Shane Brereton, Spaniard Antonio Albacete, and German Iveco pilot Gerd Körber stayed on track, in pursuit of a second hot lap. None managed the breakthrough into the top six. They were good enough for the Top 10. Ryan Smith saw his best times erased for exceeding track limits, and was classified only on the basis of his slow out lap. Lacko continued to improve on his qualifying time. Kiss took the pole position with Hahn, Halm, Lacko, Albacete, Brereton, Vršecký, Lenz, Rodrigues, and Körber behind him.
Race 2 saw Norbert Kiss dominate. Racing on his home circuit, the Mercedes pilot simply increased his lead over Hahn. Hahn increased the gap between him and Steffi. Action followed behind Halm for the fourth place. Shane Brereton held off Lacko and Albacete in trucks more powerful than his. Lenz took the seventh place until he was displaced by Smith in the last lap. Englishman Smith moved ahead of Rodrigues in Lap 3. Rodriges was also overtaken by Körber, Vršecký, Kursim, and Vojtíšek. He finished 13th. A number of drivers were penalised for overspeed infringements, tossing the classification. There were major changes in the finishing order behind Kiss, Hahn and Halm. Lacko, followed by Lenz, Smith, Körber, and Vršecký, came fourth. The two final places in the points went to Kursim and Brereton, who dropped from 4th to 10th as a consequence of his 10 second penalty. Albacete came 11th whereas Kursim took the Promoter’s Cup win, ahead of Brereton and Vojtíšek.
Race 3 saw Vršecký move quickly. He proved to be quicker than Körber. Lacko overtook Schwabentruck Iveco and came up right behind his Buggyra teammate to overtake him. Not far behind, Smith’s MAN collided with Kiss’s tankpool24 Mercedes. Kiss lost several places as a result, and had to pull into the pits. The crowd clearly weren’t happy. Hahn at front raced past the Buggyra Freightliner of Vršecký. He began exerting pressure on Lacko in no time. Lacko held on till the end. Vrsecky and Smith battled fiercely for the third place, and until the end of the race. Taking the inside line just before the chequered flag, Smith edged himself just about ahead. Vrsecky came fourth and Steffi Halm came fifth. During the qualifying race on the final race day, Norbert Kiss set the pace with a lap time of 2:17.403. To conserve his tyres, the Mercedes driver returned to pit lane. Many other drivers followed the Hungarian. The ones that did not were Englishman Ryan Smith (MAN), Iveco pilot Gerd Körber (GER), and two MAN teammates Antonio Albacete and José Rodrigues. An amount of caution seemed to have been exercised by the drivers in the wake of a rise in temperature. Kiss took the pole position followed by Lacko and Halm. She was followed by Hahn, Albacete, Lenz, Brereton, Smith, José Rodrigues, and Vršecký.
In the final race, Lacko took the lead coming out of the first turn. Vrsecky could not hold back Lacko even though the two entered the turn at the same time. Smith, Kursim and Kleinnagelvoort made contact at turn one. With severe damage to his Scania, the Dutchman had to retire. Smith, in his smoking truck, covered the next lap before going into the pit lane. Kursim was the only one who emerged without a baggage. The leading duo continued to pull away from the rest of the field. The Hungarian spectators hoped for the tankpool24 Mercedes to overtake Lacko’s Buggyra to take the lead. It was not to be as Lacko kept the lead till the end. Steffi Halm took third position. Albacete took the fourth position displacing Hahn. Several trucks collided at turn-two and scattered across the track. Lenz and Albacete were the most affected. Albacete could resume only after everyone had disappeared into the distance. Lacko and Vršecký benefitted and shot up to the very front. Körber continued to exert pressure on Lacko, but Lacko did not relent. He bagged his third successive win with Körber and Steffi behind him. She was followed by Vrsecky who fend off an attack from Hahn. In a battle that ensued earlier between Körber and Vršecký, the two made contact. Korber suffered and fell back. He eventually resignedly into the pit lane. Hahn came fourth.
