Sunday in Most Part 3 - Hahn’s victory march continues, first podium for Lenz

04. September 2016Most - The dark clouds cleared in time for the final race, and the storm winds – with speeds of up to 50 km/h – that had been forecast were also notably absent. All in all, the best conditions to race in, on a sellout Sunday with a capacity crowd of 99,000.
The race itself was a stormy affair, as every second race with a reversed grid is wont to be.
Polesitter Forman eased into the lead and built up a comfortable cushion over the rest of the field.
Even Lenz, who’d started alongside the young Czech, was somehow spared the attention of his nominally quicker pursuers in their more powerful trucks. That may have been because they were too preoccupied with one another.
In its steely advance this group, led by Kiss, saw blows exchanged that left the trucks – visually – evocative of sympathy. But the real heartfelt sympathy went out to Körber when he was forced out on the 5th lap with a blown tyre on his rear axle.
The events that followed happened faster than anyone could figure. Hahn got up past Kiss and, two laps later, past Lenz as well. And given the pressure he now was under from Lacko, nobody expected the young German to hold up for long. That would mean he’d have to perish visions of a first podium finish, because Forman was so far out in front that it was highly improbable that Hahn and Lacko would be able to catch up, overtake, and hand him down. But suddenly in the descent after the bend at the far corner of the track, a gentle right-hander that more than one racer has taken far too fast this weekend, Forman found himself off the asphalt, ploughing into the barrier. This was possibly due to a technical defect, because flames were seen leaping from the Buggyra Freightliner which the marshals extinguished without delay.
The path to his second victory of the day thus laid, Hahn didn’t have to worry about having to fight Lacko for it - or so it looked like to him.
Three laps to go, Lenz no longer had it in him to resist the superiority of the No. 55 Buggyra Freightliner. But the hoped-for podium-place finish was still in sight.
There was, of course, the minor detail of a red-and-silver Mercedes with the No. 1 on its windscreen that seemed poised to devour the rear end of the bright-orange MAN.
But Lenz fought Kiss off like the Brunswick lion on the grille of his truck, beating the reigning champ to the flag by three tenths.
Kiss was tailed home in 5th by Janiec, who’d started from the rear of the field as a consequence of his failure to finish the first race. Reinert and Halm followed in 6th and 7th. The MAN pilotess had also, in the tumultuous start phase, found herself off the track while the rest of the field rushed past, then fought her way back up.
Brereton finished 8th, but a 30-second penalty dumped him into 11th in the final classification.
The leavings were taken by Lohr, Kursim, and – like yesterday – Dutch Scania pilot Erwin Kleinnagelvoort.
For the second time today the team honours went to Reinert Adventure (Hahn / Reinert). This time, though, Lion Truck Racing-Lenz was second ahead of Buggyra International (Lacko / Forman).
Hahn has extended his championship lead over Lacko to 13 points. He now has 299 to the Czech’s 286. They are followed by Kiss (163), Reinert (152), Janiec (141), and Halm (136).

Impressions: