Promoter's Cup review Slovakia Ring
José Eduardo Rodrigues continued the strong form he showed in Misano for the second round of the Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship, but Steffen Faas keeps the pressure on after dominating in day two of the event.
The Portuguese driver still comes out of the Slovakia Ring weekend as the one to beat, adding another two class victories and class pole positions to his 2023 campaign. Saturday belonged to him, with another great display of truck racing and some great fights with the Titan drivers in Race Two’s reverse grid.
However, Sunday came with many incidents for Rodrigues, one of which nearly completely took him out of Race Three before it had really begun. He recovered from his first lap spin and rejoined the grid, after a red flag was thrown to collect the stranded truck from T1’s gravel trap. The race was certainly one to forget, with some aggressive overtakes on John Newell and Mark Taylor gaining him penalties for Race Four and losing his reverse-grid pole position.
Steffen Faas, who has been keeping Rodrigues honest in the first two rounds, capitalised on the mistakes of Sunday, getting himself two class victories. Although Rodrigues did join him on the Promoter’s Cup podium for Race Four, Faas’ consistency throughout the first two rounds has seen him only trailing the Portuguese driver by eight points in the Promoter’s Cup standings.
It was an improved weekend for Luis Recuenco, who seems much more at home now he has traded his MAN truck for an IVECO. Picking up two class podiums, Recuenco found himself on reverse pole for Race Four. He was really giving the Titian runners a hard time passing him, looking not only likely to take his first Promoter’s Cup victory, but also claim his first overall podium to end the weekend on a high. Contact with André Kursim sadly saw the Spaniard pitched off into the gravel, falling right to the back of the field.Recuenco did, nonetheless, prove he certainly is one to keep an eye on as the season continues.“We need to figure out the small problems we have in the suspension but we’re making good progress,” Recuenco said after his race weekend.
John Newell ended the weekend with two more Promoter’s Cup podiums to his name, showing strong progress in the second round of the season. It was a mixed weekend, with not only him and fellow Brit Mark Taylor having to learn a brand new track, but also getting to terms with driving in varied conditions during Saturday’s racing. Newell’s podiums came in Race Two and Race Four, gathering a nice haul of points from the Slovakian weekend.
Mark Taylor took his first Promoter’s Cup podium of the season in Race Three, after Rodrigues was hit with a penalty, demoting him off the podium to fourth. In what was a bit of a chaotic race for his fellow competitors, Taylor manoeuvred the field well and kept keep his truck out of trouble.
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