In the third race of FIA European Truck Racing Championship, Adam Lacko, driving a Freightliner for team Buggyra, took a well deserved win on Nurburgring’s Eifel track.
Team CV
Adam Lacko, driving his Buggyra International Racing System Freightliner, took a commanding win in race three of the Nürburgring round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship on July 02, 2017. Braving rainy weather, Lacko, the three-time winner at the Truck Grand Prix, extended his growing point’s advantage over his competitors, continuing his quest for a first FIA European Truck Racing Championship (ETRC) title. He now leads by 46 points. Tankpool24 Racing entrant Norbert Kiss finished second in his Mercedes-Benz whereas Lion Truck Racing’s MAN of Anthony Janiec took the third place. Anthony took the third place for the second time this season. For Lacko, the win at Nurburgring marked the second win after he clinched the title at the earlier round at Misano, Italy.
With weather conditions improving slightly overnight, indicating clearly that a dry surface could end Lacko’s wet weather domination in his Freightliner, Kiss won the Super Pole session. Norbert Kiss and Antonio Albacete – two drivers involved in a collision in an earlier race, set the pace in the Super Pole session held on the morning of July 02, 2017. The Tankpool24 Racing Mercedes-Benz driver initially recording 1:54.725 and his closest rival, Albacete, in the Truck Sport Lutz Bernau MAN being just 0.099 seconds down on his time. But it was local man Jochen Hahn who performed a late lunge with just seconds remaining in the session to claim second, a mere 0.051 seconds and push Albacete down to third on the grid. Fourth fastest, Adam Lacko, taking a clean sweep the day before, was met with much-improved conditions. It meant the playing field was level. David Vršecký, in the second of the Buggyra International Racing System Freightliners, qualified just behind his team-mate and had Steffi Halm in Reinert Racing MAN for company on row three of the grid. Row four of the grid was taken by MAN drivers, with Sascha Lenz in the SL Trucksport entry having a similar machine for company. It was a Lion Truck Racing Team entry for Frenchman Anthony Janiec. The earlier podium finisher, Gerd Körber, qualified ninth, with his compatriot André Kursim alongside. The Tankpool24 racer also topped the Promoter’s Cup category with his closest rival José Rodrigues starting 12th after being knocked out in the earlier timed practice.
While Kiss started from pole, Lacko started from the fourth position. With a storming start, Lacko grabbed the lead from Kiss, Antonio Albacete, and Jochen Hahn at the end of turn one. Albacete emerged as a surprise leader from the scrap with Sascha Lenz in the SL Trucksport MAN making a remarkable leap from seventh to second. It turned out to be a very brief second for the German. The Spaniard’s lead didn’t last long as he spun and took Lenz with him at turn three. Both managed to continue, but their chances of a decent result were over. Capitalising on the situation, Kiss made progress. Lacko in second continued to push hard, and build pressure. Third placed Körber, moving up from ninth position, exerted good pressure as well. Kiss and David Vršecký ran wide exiting the final corner. Kiss re-joined in fifth and Vršecký lost further ground after a lengthy trip through the gravel. Lacko grabbed a firm lead and stayed in control for the rest of the race. Gradually extending his lead to a point where he was 12-seconds in front, the grid behind Lacko continued to re-arrange. There was plenty of action. Several drivers regained lost ground in the opening stages, chief among these, Norbi Kiss.
Kiss moved up to the second position after an entertaining scrap with Anthony Janiec’s Lion Truck MAN. Iveco lost ground with Körber slipping back and dropping from third to tenth. This was followed by Hahn suffering a similar experience. In the latter stages of the race both Ivecos were on a mission to get back into the points positions. It was the same with Antonio Albacete and David Vršecký. André Kursim put on a strong performance and stayed out of trouble to take fourth overall, his best ever result in the FIA ETRC.Vršecký managed to come back into fifth position in the second of the Buggyra Freightliners with Steffi Halm in Reinert Racing MAN, who experienced a rather quiet race, one place behind in sixth. Hahn and Körber recovered to seventh and eight position respectively. Albacete, who was dead last after the lap one incident stormed through the pack to ninth place following a late lunge on Jeremy Robineau. The final point’s position went to José Rodrigues in his Rebonconorte MAN.
Kursim takes the Promoter Cup
The Promoter’s Cup class saw a second consecutive win for André Kursim. The German youngster took control from the second lap onwards. The Tankpool24 Racing driver made further in-roads into José Rodrigues’ points advantage with a well-judged drive. Rodrigues took the runners-up position after managing to drop Jeremy Robineau after he temporarily fell behind him after a mid-race excursion. Robineau led at the end of the first lap but was quickly usurped by Kursim and Rodrigues and eventually came home third ahead of Heinz-Werner Lenz’s Mercedes-Benz. Buggyra 1969 claimed the Teams’ honours in race three as Adam Lacko and David Vršecký combined to beat the Tankpool24 Racing pairing of Norbert Kiss and Andre Kursim. The Die Bullen IVECO Magirus pairing of Jochen Hahn and Gerd Körber claimed the final rung of the podium.
