Saturday at the Slovakiaring Part 2 –It’s Kiss all the way to the flag

15. July 2017Slovakiaring - Just how tricky it is to race trucks on the Slovakia Ring was clearly evident in the first couple of laps – the 5.5 tonne colossi tearing side by side down narrowing straights towards the extremely tight corners, their pilots stepping full on the brakes at the last possible moment with absolutely no wiggle room. From some angles it appeared as if the entire field had morphed into a multicolour metal monster on wheels.
Polesitter Kiss was able to assert his lead at the exit from the first corner and drove on from there to a convincing victory.
Albacete, starting from 2nd on the grid, wasn’t as fortunate. He was forced wide in the first corners, found himself with two wheels off the track, and lost several places in his struggle to collect control.
Steffi Halm meanwhile had helped herself to 2nd place, tailed by Hahn and Lacko. Hahn was the first to move up on the MAN pilotess, followed a short while later by Lacko.
As Kiss continued to build out his lead, a furious battle for 2nd raged between Hahn and Lacko. In an upward-sweeping left-hand corner on one of the inner sections of the circuit, the Iveco pilot drifted wide, allowing Lacko to force his way up alongside and, in the next left-hand bend, ease ahead.
Steffi Halm was hot on Hahn’s heels in 4th and, despite Albacete turning up the heat towards the end, held on determinedly to her position.
Vršecký and a small group with Kursim, Lenz, and Körber were next across the line. For Lenz, 8th place should have meant pole for Race 2, but a 10 second penalty for overspeeding tripped the young German to 10th behind Iveco rookie Steffen Faas (GER).
Tankpool24 (Kiss / Kursim) was the winning team, with Buggyra Racing 1969 (Vršecký / Lacko) and „Die Bullen von Iveco Magirus“ (Hahn / Körber) first and second runners-up. The Promoter’s Cup prizes went to Kursim, Faas, and Czech veteran Frankie Vojtíšek (MAN).

Impressions: