The second FIA European Championship race of the weekend brought a turnaround in the fortunes of reigning champion David Vrsecky. The Freightliner driver steered clear of trouble at the chaotic opening turn to emerge at the front of the field – having started from the third row.
“All the others were going off in front of me and I managed to drive through the mess and find myself out at the front, thinking “Thank You, Thank You”.
But the Czech driver didn’t have any opportunity to relax – because hard on his tail for the entire 13 lap race was the hard-charging Spaniard Antonio Albacete, the MAN driver having also made an excellent getaway to move from 8th position on the grid up to a strong second on the first corner.
Albacete shadowed his rival all the way to the finishing line, just 0.476s. separating the duo at the chequered flag with the Renault of Markus Bösiger closing to just 0.678s. behind as the Swiss driver battled his way to third.
“Having David in front of me was not such a big problem. The important thing is that I finished ahead of Bösiger in both races – and he is my nearest challenger in the points standings” explained Albacete after the race.
Chris Levett – winner of the opening race of the day – didn’t fare so well in Race 2. The Bird’s Motorsport MAN was suffering transmission trouble from early in the rcae and also took a hefty whack from a rival before Levett was forced to retire after just 4 laps.
The British driver will be aiming for another change in his fortunes before the end of the afternoon – as he will start the Mittelrhein Cup race from pole position and is keen to stay out in front of the star-studded field.
Another unfortuante driver in Race 2 was Jochen Hahn – the German collecting a puncture in the early stages before mounting a great charge back through the field to claim one point for 10th.
Texte: © ADAC