Sunday at Smolenskring – Part 2

29. July 2012Smolenskring - The sun still burned down from a mostly cloudless sky and there was not even a breeze at the Smolenskring, which is located in a valley basin. The temperatures in the drivers’ cabins must have been over 50 C°.
At 1:15 pm the third race of the weekend started on time. In the first curve Albacete was on the inside track and he immediately took the lead. Hahn still would not stop trying to attack Albacete and drove next to the Spniard on the left side once the next downhill passage came up and in this case succeeded in the next left turn. The German took over the lead, Albaete sticking to his bumper and never giving up this position until the end – until the last few meters in the second last lap. Hahn was not able to hit the racing line in the curve after the long straight line; all of a sudden Albacete was having the lead. When they both emerged out of the turn, the German had a little more grip and passed the Cepsa-MAN again. After that it was clear that Hahn was going to win. Bösiger, who had already been able to pass his teammate Oestreich right at the start in the end placed 3rd on the podium. Later it was said that Oese had been dealing with technical problems the whole time. He still placed 6th ahead of Mäkinen and Lacheze, but behind Lacko and Vrsecky. Lacheze placed 8th and won the Pole for the last race. Reinert and Lvov were placed on the following ranks.
Due to the fact that Lvov is not allowed to receive any more points according to section 4.1 of the FIA ETRC, the last points went to Bermejo who placed 11th.
In the last race Polesetter Lacheze took the lead right away, Mäkinen drove trough the gravel on the outside lane and immediately fell back a few positions. Bösiger had an exceptionally good start and was able to prevail against his teammates Lacko and Oestreich at the very first turn and move up to the second position. For many laps the Swiss chased Lacheze who was having the lead. When Bösiger made a little mistake in the ominous turn right after the long straight, Hahn used his chance and drove up to the second position. A little bit later, Lacheze had to let Hahn have the lead. While being chased by Bösiger, Lacheze braked too late at the end of the long straight, got off the racing line and was passed by the Swiss.
A little bit later the Frenchman even had to let Albacete pass. The ranks for the podiums therefore went to Hahn, Bösiger and Albacete. Lacko placed 5th behind Lacheze, but ahead of Vrsecky, Reinert, and Mäkinen. Oestreich was struggling with technical problems again and that’s why he placed 9th in the end ahead of Bermejo.
Kiss experienced a dramatic moment. During the 10th lap, he chased toward the first turn, lost control over his vehicle after a failure and crashed right into the wall. In the overall ranking Hahn is leading again with 331 points ahead of Albacete (325), Lacko (215), Oestreich (204), Vrsecky (189) and Bösiger (165).

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