The last half of the ETRC season to start with equally matched top drivers at Most

23.08.2018 08:22

The first half of the European Truck Racing Championship season was dominated by Jochen Hahn. Nevertheless, sixteen races saw ten winners, which means that the elite is very wide. Closeness of the racing promises a dramatic show during the upcoming Czech Truck Prix held at Most over the weekend of 1–2 September.

Jochen Hahn won three titles between 2011 and 2013 adding another one in 2016, probably his best season so far. However, he achieved all his titles driving MAN trucks while last year, he made a fundamental change replacing his well-proven equipment with a new Iveco truck. Having won the first race, he suggested that this change may have not resulted in any fall from glory for him. But in the course of the season, he had to deal with some problems whereas Adam Lacko sailed through flawlessly. Driving his Buggyra, the Czech driver eventually won eleven races easily claiming the championship title. All the same, Jochen Hahn’s second place in the final standings with his new equipment has indicated that he would be the man to beat.

This year, Hahn’s team has already removed all the teething problems that had plagued his Iveco, and the forty-three years old driver turned up with all guns blazing. He has fully used his very effective weapon: his ability to clock very fast qualifying laps. His Iveco has always been perfectly prepared and absolutely reliable over the second season. Hahn has won six races and built up a large points advantage. Yet, failing to score in the fourth race in Hungary and the second race at Nürburgring, even his lead is uncertain. His quickly built cushion means that Hahn doesn’t have to take unnecessary risks in the remaining events. He makes no secret about the fact that he currently prefers picking up a good number of points regularly to taking risks at any cost striving the best possible finish position in every race. But when starting from pole position, Hahn gives no chance to his rivals.

Having had an operation, Adam Lacko faced health issues in the first races. He even contemplated his absence from the first race weekend at Misano. Then, too, his performances are nowhere near his last year’s dominance. So far, he has won just the second race in Budapest. At Slovakiaring, he got better in qualifying but poor starts made it impossible for him to take full advantage of this edge. His principal aim is to defend his second spot in the championship standings ahead of the improving Norbert Kiss, a 2014 and 2015 double champion. Kiss didn’t turn out well at all at the start of the season not claiming his first victory of the season until Slovakia.

It was the Spanish returnee, António Albacete (the 2005, 2006 and 2010 champion) who fared much better than Kiss in the opening races notching up wins in Hungary and Slovakia. Apart from Hahn, Albacete is the only driver to win more than once. But most importantly, he has regularly finished in the points.

Popular Schwabentruck team Iveco driver Steffi Halm has proved that she is able to scythe through the field. Her bright moment came at Nürburgring where she won to the delight of dozens of thousands of truck enthusiasts in the grandstands. This result moved her to second place overall behind Hahn. In contrast, everything went against her in Slovakia. On the contrary, Sascha Lenz, scoring points on a regular basis, turned the event at Slovakiaring into his most successful weekend so far this year claiming his first career win in Race 2 at Misano.

In spite of Jochen Hahn’s dominant position, this season has brought more dramatic battles than the previous season, and there are much more drivers involved in the battle for the top places. At Most, Adam Lacko is eager to show the home fans that it would be too early to charge him off for this year. But it’s not just a battle between Lacko and Hahn at any rate.

 


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