Steffi Halm took a famous victory on home soil after a sensational display of top class FIA European Truck Racing action at Nürburgring on Saturday afternoon.
Steffi Halm took a famous victory on home soil after a sensational display of top class FIA European Truck Racing action at Nürburgring on Saturday afternoon.
In winning the race today, Halm claimed her second ever FIA European Truck Racing Championship win after her maiden success last year at Hungaroring.
The flying German resisted late race pressure from championship leader Jochen Hahn, who drove one of the races of his career to come from eighth on the grid to second position. Hahn’s result sees him stretch his lead in the championship over Adam Lacko to five points.
Halm crossed the finishing line 1.763s seconds ahead of Hahn who in turn came under late race pressure from Norbert Kiss’ Tankpool24 Racing Mercedes-Benz. The Hungarian ace was just 0.891s behind Hahn as the chequered flag was flown.
The initial race start began in dramatic fashion with pole sitter Sascha Lenz leading cleanly away from Gerd Korber and the rest of the pack. Soon though there was trouble at the turn two and turn three complex when Adam Lacko dived down the inside and made contact with Rene Reinert, who in turn was pushed in to Jochen Hahn.
Both Hahn and Reinert suffered damaged trucks with Reinert getting repairs and taking the re-started race from the back of the grid.
Also involved in the fracas was the pair of Lion Truck Racing entries of Anthony Janiec and Jean-Claude Labadie. They both attempted to avoid the incident with Janiec spinning and Labadie having to stop suddenly to avoid a spun Rodrigues.
Halfway around the first lap the race was red flagged to rescue the stranded trucks of Rodrigues and Labadie and to also clear debris from the track.
The race was restarted over 13 laps and again Lenz led away in turn one but was immediately under pressure from a flying Steffi Halm, who dived down the inside of Janiec and Korber in to turn one.
Halm was soon in to the lead at the start of lap two as she made a decisive move on Lenz under braking at the inside of turn one. From there the crowd favourite pulled steadily clear of her opposition, building a three second lead by lap five to build a race winning margin
Markus Altenstrasser (Team Schwabentruck) made a remarkable start and went from ninth to fourth on the first lap. The Austrian though was soon overtaken by Jochen Hahn, as the fired up German then went after reigning champion Norbert Kiss for what soon became second place as Lenz dropped back.
With Hahn soon clear of Kiss he began to reel in Halm setting the then fastest lap of the race as he did so. The gap came down steadily but Halm was up to the task in hand and resisted any late moves that Hahn might have had in mind.
Adam Lacko had an eventful race but claimed fourth and seven vital points for his title quest and the fastest lap of the race. The Czech Truck Racing Team driver was not only involved in the red flag incident but also had contact on the first lap with Anthony Janiec at the chicane. The incident was placed under investigation by the stewards.
Janiec took a distant fifth ahead of Rene Reinert who put in one of the drives of the race as he claimed sixth position after starting from the rear of the grid. The German scythed his way through the field in one of the most impressive performances of the season so far.
Markus Alterstrasser claimed more points for seventh ahead of a battle-scared Ryan Smith (Team OXXO Racing), Ellen Lohr (Truck Sport Lutz Bernau) and Frankie Vojtisek (Czech Truck Racing Team).
It was a superb day for the women of truck racing as Steffi Halm and Ellen Lohr’s combined results also ensured first position in the Teams’ standings. The Wow! Women on Wheels team led home the Team Reinert Adventures and Tankpool24 Racing pairings.
Poleman Sascha Lenz dropped out of the race on lap 10 with an apparent technical problem.
The third and fourth rounds of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship at Nürburgring take place tomorrow at 13.05 and 17.00 respectively. You can follow all the action live by clicking here.
For the full provisional result of race two click here