Sunday in Jarama Part 3 - Albacete wins season-concluding race

08. October 2017Jarama - The 27,000 spectators could well have known the outcome when Albacete secured pole position for the final race of 2017 with his 8th-place finish in the earlier race – all places in the final standings having already been settled, who would grudge the well-liked Spaniard a win here in front of his own fans? And so, as it turned out, what played out was more a celebration of a hard-fought season than a hard-fought race.
Albacete took the lead straightway, Körber and Lenz following closely. Behind them, like pearls on a string, came Vršecký, Steffi Halm, Hahn, Lacko, and Kiss – the top eight from the previous race in reverse order. On the second lap Vršecký’s Freightliner picked up a puncture, forcing the Czech out a little later.
At midrace Hahn overtook Steffi Halm. One lap later Hahn and Halm both overtook the MAN of Lenz. But the outgoing champ’s advance hadn’t stopped; for five laps he sat on „Die Bullen von Iveco Magirus“ teammate Körber’s tail before pulling out and zooming ahead on the very last lap to seal 2nd place.
All that was left for Halm was 4th place ahead of Lenz, Kiss, and Lacko. The last three places in the points were taken by José Rodrigues, Kursim, and Czech veteran Frankie Vojtíšek (MAN).
The most spectacular display, that which the fans had looked forward to the whole day, came only after the race – the burnouts and donuts, as many as the race-worn tyres could sustain. There was so much smoke that you could barely see your hand in front of your face, but the fans were all fired up in anticipation of the climax, when Albacete, following a long Jarama tradition, did his lap of honour on foot, flinging T-shirts into the crowd.
„Die Bullen von Iveco Magirus“ (Hahn / Körber) was the top team, followed by Truck Sport Bernau + Reboconort (José Rodrigues / Albacete) and Team Reinert Adventure (Steffi Halm / Lenz).
José Rodrigues took the Promoter’s Cup win ahead of Kursim and Vojtíšek.

Impressions: