Saturday at the Hungaroring Part 3 – Lacko seizes opportunistic win
26. August 2017Hungaroring - It was late afternoon by the time Race 2 started, but the temperature was still around 35°C although the asphalt, at 46°, was no longer as hot and tyre-unfriendly as in the earlier race. But what transpired on the track was enough to make your blood boil.
At the start, polesitter Vršecký made a more fleet-footed getaway than Körber. Before the lap was out Lacko too had overtaken the Schwabentruck Iveco and was now right up behind his Buggyra teammate. Overtaking Vršecký presented no great difficulty. What took place not far behind, though, completely soured the mood for the hordes of Hungarian fans. Smith’s MAN collided with Kiss’s tankpool24 Mercedes in a right-hand bend. The hit was so hard that the Mercedes was lifted into the air and sent careering off the curve. Kiss lost several places as a result, and had to pull into the pits – to the chagrin of the crowd – while Smith continued on his reckless way as if nothing had happened.
At the front Hahn had, meanwhile, been able to pass the Buggyra Freightliner of Vršecký. The Iveco pilot then proceeded to reel Lacko in, till he was right up behind him. But crowbar tactics aren’t Hahn’s thing, more so when only one point is at stake, and the defending champion contented himself with 2nd place behind Lacko.
The fight for the third podium spot was, by contrast, a battle to the bitter end between Vršecký and Smith who, following his collision with Kiss, had quickly muscled his way further up the field. The Englishman was still in full assault mode, but Vršecký, who’s a master at this kind of stuff, deftly parried every attack – till a few metres into the approach to the flag. The two trucks exited the last corner side by side – Smith on the inside line, Vršecký on the outside. Together they hurtled towards the finish line, their momentum out of the corner carrying them towards the edge of the pit straight. Smith’s tyres found the better grip and he was able to breast the timing beam six hundredths ahead.
The battle for 5th was no less heated. Steffi Halm, Albacete, Brereton, Körber, and Kursim were involved in a five-way contest that only seemed to ease towards the finish. There had been several changes of position between them, till the five trucks crossed the line in the above order within the space of 5 seconds.
Lenz snapped up the final FIA point with 10th place.
Brereton took the Promoter’s Cup win this time, ahead of Kursim and Dutch Scania pilot Erwin Kleinnagelvoort.
The team honours went to Buggyra Racing 1969 (Vršecký / Lacko), followed by „Die Bullen von Iveco Magirus“ (Hahn / Körber) and Reinert Adventure (Halm / Lenz).
Lacko has maintained his 43-points championship lead and is now on 202, followed by Hahn and Kiss level on 159, Halm (151), Albacete (114), Körber (85), and Lenz (83).
Impressions:
