Friday, 29.03.2024 | Deutsch | English
Saturday at the Nürburgring Part 2 – Dominant Lacko’s on the double

Saturday at the Nürburgring Part 2 – Dominant Lacko’s on the double

01. July 2017Nürburgring - Till the start of Race 2 there had been some heavy rain, and the conditions were anything but ideal for racing. The eventual result was somewhat surprising – not the finishing order necessarily, but rather the course of the race and the gaps between the trucks.
Even though the track was very damp, race control decreed only one formation lap before the lights turned green. Polesitter Körber was able to make it into the first corner ahead of Hahn, Steffi Halm, and Lacko, who had already leapfrogged four trucks. A few hundred metres down the road Janiec, who’d been given a 10 second penalty after the earlier race that put him behind Sascha Lenz, did an unprovoked pirouette but quickly collected himself and continued on his way, having propitiously managed to hold onto his position. Right behind the Frenchman’s yellow MAN lay Sascha Lenz, Albacete, Vršecký, and Kiss. This latter trio would go on to script a spectacular a short while later.
Körber meanwhile held onto his lead, followed by Hahn. But Lacko is wired for victory in the wet, and he advanced inexorably upon the leading duo, first dispatching Halm, who’s clearly no fan of wet-weather racing, and then setting upon archrival Hahn. On the next lap he’d put the Iveco pilot behind him, and the lap after, polesitter Körber as well. Now there was nothing more for Lacko to do from lap 4 on but to look out for the chequered flag. And though nobody was surprised by the Czech’s second win of the day, his overwhelming superiority did take us aback.
What was a surprise, however, was who finished second. After his spin Janiec drove a completely clean race, pulling ahead of Halm, Hahn, and Körber in quick succession to take a wholly deserved 2nd place.
„Die Bullen von Iveco Magirus“ resumed their duel for 3rd, Körber keeping his teammate behind him all the way till the flag. Reinert Adventure teammates Halm and Lenz likewise engaged in – not entirely fierce – combat given there was no threat from behind.
Kursim crossed the line more than 10 seconds later in 7th. Till mid-race there had been a fascinating fight for this position – the most absorbing battle of the race withal – between Albacete, Vršecký, and Kiss as aforementioned. The Hungarian had fallen back at the start and was attempting to make up the places he’d lost. Standing in his way were two even more experienced racers in Albacete and Vršecký, the three collectively boasting seven European titles between them. But all that experience came to nothing as Vršecký and Albacete touched in a drawn-out duel and together slid towards the right of the track just as Kiss was making his move on both. The Mercedes was rammed in the side by Albacete’s MAN and lifted off its left wheels, landing back on all fours trackside headed off into a tyre barrier. While Albacete crept along the side of the circuit into an ignominious retirement, Kiss set off again immediately in his battered truck, as did Vršecký. But as the Hungarian, with one flat rear tyre, painfully fought his way back up, Vršecký kept falling back. At the finish line the Mercedes pilot had almost drawn level with Steffen Faas (Iveco), but was beaten out by seven tenths and had to make do with 9th.
Tenth and final place in the points went to race-by-race pilot Jérémy Robineau in an MAN.
The top team honours went to „Die Bullen von Iveco Magirus“ (Hahn / Körber), with Reinert Adventure (Halm / Lenz) and Buggyra Racing 1969 (Vršecký / Lacko) second and third runners-up.
Kursim was victor in the Promoter’s Cup, followed by Faas and Robineau.
Lacko continues to lead the overall standings with 122 points. Hahn is now second with 91, a single point ahead of Halm. Kiss has 73, Albacete 70, Lenz 59, and Körber 58.

Impressions:

Saturday at the Nürburgring Part 2 – Dominant Lacko’s on the double
Saturday at the Nürburgring Part 2 – Dominant Lacko’s on the double
Saturday at the Nürburgring Part 2 – Dominant Lacko’s on the double
Saturday at the Nürburgring Part 2 – Dominant Lacko’s on the double
Saturday at the Nürburgring Part 2 – Dominant Lacko’s on the double
Saturday at the Nürburgring Part 2 – Dominant Lacko’s on the double