Sunday in Jarama Part 3 - Benedek Major takes third win of the season

06. October 2013Jarama - The mercury was pushing 25°C – in the shade, mind you; in the sun it was uncomfortably hot – as the truck racers took to the grid for the final race of the weekend in front of 56,000 spectators. In the first row were Major and Reinert. Both MAN pilots have asserted themselves against substantially quicker competitors, winning races on more than one occasion this season. Polesitter Major took the lead immediately after the lights turned green, Reinert following barely a second behind. Their pursuers collected into a tightly packed group led by Mäkinen. And while the leading duo appeared to be lapping at total ease, it wasn’t going too easy for the truck racers behind them — this is, after all, a contact sport. Nevertheless, Mäkinen was able to defend his third place against Bösiger, Vršecký, Albacete, Kiss, and Hahn, who all followed nose to tail.
Halfway through the race Kiss threw in the towel, being forced out with technical problems. Albacete now had Hahn directly behind him, without the comfort of the Hungarian in between to serve as a buffer. The German kept attacking the Spaniard, but it was clear to both that, give or take a point, the championship wasn’t going to be decided here.
What was decided, though, was the battle for the podium. Major drove to his third victory of the season, and he’s still only 17 years old! For a while it looked like Mäkinen would make it an MAN lockout of the podium. But then he was overtaken on the penultimate lap, first by Renault pilot Bösiger, who snatched third place for himself, and then also by Vršecký in his Freightliner. The Finn was followed past the finish line by Albacete in sixth and Hahn in seventh. The last three points places went to Lacko, who’d had to start the race from the rear because of his failure to finish the first race, Janiec, and Vojtíšek.
First place in the team ranking went to MKR Renault (Lacko / Bösiger) ahead of Castrol Team Hahn Racing (Hahn / Mäkinen) and OXXO Energy Truck Race Team (Kiss / Major). And even though Markus Oestreich couldn’t start for the reason we all now know, there were a few more Germans besides Reinert and Hahn still in the race, among them the only two ladies in the field, Ellen Lohr (Buggyra Freightliner) and Steffi Halm (MAN), who finished 12th and 14th. Truckrace rookie André Kursim had a bit of misfortune. A burst shock absorber on his front axle forced the Mercedes pilot out only four laps from the finish, but he stayed in the ranking. And so, in the Number 24 tankpool24, he was in 24th place in the final race of the weekend.
With 377 points, Albacete now carries a very thin lead of 11 points into the season’s climax in Le Mans less than a week from now. Hahn is now on 366, followed by Oestreich (296), Vršecký, and Kiss (both 264), Lacko (197), and Bösiger (172).

Impressions: