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Saturday at the Nürburgring Part 1 – Adam Lacko wins in the wet

Saturday at the Nürburgring Part 1 – Adam Lacko wins in the wet

01. July 2017Nürburgring - The skies haven’t been all too kind with the truck racers and fans on this first race day of the Truck Grand Prix, the 3rd round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship, at the Nürburgring. From early morning there’s been rain, at times heavy, and the thermometer has stubbornly stuck at 10°C – this is only the First of July, mind you.
Morning’s warm-up wasn’t really indicative of what was to come. As is well known, the Buggyra Freightliners of Adam Lacko and David Vršecký are particularly strong in the wet. So it surprised nobody that the two Czechs were quickest – albeit some way off the times the trucks had recorded in qualifying yesterday.
At start time for Race 1 the conditions were no better. Starts in the rain are often preceded by two formation laps in the hope that the track will be cleared of standing water. The race was green-lighted under caution, the yellow flags being waved conspicuously all round the circuit. Ergo, no overtaking for the first lap. When the racers received the all-clear on their approach to the light gantry, polesitter Jochen Hahn aquajetted into the lead in his Iveco with Hungarian Norbert Kiss in the tankpool24 Mercedes, Antonio Albacete (ESP) in the Bernau MAN, and Lacko in his wake in unwavering pursuit. The podium was decided exclusively between these four. For a few laps it looked like Lacko wasn’t going to make good on his strength in the rain. In the Czech’s stead it was Kiss whose attacks Hahn had to block, the Hungarian also having an enviable reputation as a rain man.
The race was well into its second half when Kiss finally moved ahead of Hahn. One lap later Lacko, who’d already snatched 3rd place from Albacete, ceded it momentarily, and then grabbed it back again, overtook both the Iveco pilot and frontrunner Kiss in one fell swoop. From then on the Czech kept pulling away steadily to take the flag.
Kiss too pulled out a gap on Hahn, who was more concentrated on defending his 3rd place from Albacete than on catching up with the only other European champion of this decade.
Anthony Janiec (MAN), was 5th. Here as a race-by-race entrant, the Frenchman drove an effortless race despite the adverse conditions, gaining on his two German MAN colleagues Sascha Lenz and Steffi Halm. Vršecký crossed the line in 8th, which (should have) meant pole for Race 2. But the Czech picked up a time penalty for an overspeed infringement that tossed him down to 12th and promoted Iveco driver Gerd Körber (GER), who’d been honoured for his 30 years in the sport at a reception yesterday evening, from 9th on the grid to pole position. The two remaining places in the points were occupied by José Rodrigues (POR) in an MAN and German André Kursim (Mercedes).
Buggyra Racing 1969 (Vršecký / Lacko) was the top team, followed by „Die Bullen von Iveco Magirus“ (Hahn / Körber) and tankpool24 (Kiss / Kursim).
José Rodrigues won the Promoter’s Cup honours yet again, ahead of Kursim and German débutant Steffen Faas (Iveco).

Impressions:

Saturday at the Nürburgring Part 1 – Adam Lacko wins in the wet
Saturday at the Nürburgring Part 1 – Adam Lacko wins in the wet
Saturday at the Nürburgring Part 1 – Adam Lacko wins in the wet