Sunday at the Hungaroring Part 2 - Lacko wins again to extend his lead

27. August 2017Hungaroring - The colour of the sky suggested that it could begin to rain at any moment, but no – it stayed dry and hot as ever. The thermometer seemed stuck at 34°C, but the track surface, at 45°, wasn’t quite as hot as during the Super Pole. Not the slightest whiff of breeze, however.
Rain man Lacko would surely have welcomed a shower from above, but at the end of it all he showed that he could do just as well without that heavenly assistance.
Kiss stood on pole with Lacko alongside and to his left. There was a (formerly announced) change in the starting order, Ryan Smith having to drop back three places for an action in yesterday’s second race. This now meant he’d start from 11th, with the second tankpool24 Mercedes of André Kursim (GER) alongside and Dutch Scania pilot Erwin Kleinnagelvoort behind him.
The flying start was smooth and without incident. Mercedes and Buggyra entered the first corner side by side, but Lacko appeared to get the better exit, which put him clear into the lead. The rest of the field also passed that hazardous patch safely, till it came to the three aforementioned. Smith, Kursim, and Kleinnagelvoort came together spectacularly. The Dutchman had to retire his Scania almost immediately with severe damage. Smith kept going in his smoking truck for a lap, but he too had to pack it in. Of the three, Kursim alone was able to make it to the finish.
All this while the leading duo kept pulling away from the rest of the pack. The partisan crowd was hoping only that the tankpool24 Mercedes would somehow pass Lacko’s Buggyra for the lead. Again and again the Hungarian closed in, but was never able to make his move. Lacko went on to take a somewhat unexpected win, picking up 20 precious points on his march to the title. Steffi Halm drove an unremarkable race to finish 3rd. Hahn, on the other hand, had ceded 4th place to Albacete on the first lap, and the reigning champ never looked like being in a position to retake it. Quite the contrary – in the closing laps the gap to the Spaniard grew ever wider, even as the duo of Brereton and Lenz began to close in from the rear. Hahn, nevertheless, succeeded in holding onto 5th by a second.
Lenz was followed home by Körber in 8th. That, of course, means pole for the final race.
The two remaining places in the points were taken by José Rodrigues and Vršecký.
Buggyra Racing 1969 (Vršecký / Lacko) took the team honours for the second time this weekend. „Die Bullen von Iveco Magirus“ (Hahn / Körber) and Reinert Adventure (Halm / Lenz) were first and second runners-up.
Shane Brereton took first prize in the Promoter’s Cup, with José Rodrigues and Kursim second and third.

Impressions: