TAYLOR TAKES CHROME CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD AFTER ROUND TWO
Mark Taylor leads the Chrome Championship standings after a strong showing at the second round of the Goodyear FIA ETRC at the Lausitzring. With two class victories and a second-place finish across the three races, Taylor’s consistency earned him the top spot in the standings, nine points clear of closest rival Bradley Smith.Taylor’s strong performance included an overall second-place finish thanks to a flawless defensive drive. His ability to stay ahead of key Chrome rivals through every race made the difference in a closely fought weekend.
Bradley Smith also had a strong weekend, standing on all three Chrome podiums. He claimed his first class victory of the season in Race 1 with a commanding drive from pole. That result brought him level on points with Taylor at the time, setting up a weekend-long head-to-head. While Taylor edged him in Races 2 and 3, Smith’s two second places were enough to keep him in the hunt and build a 13-point cushion over Clemens Hecker in third.
Behind the front two, the battle remains tight. Hecker and John Newell hold third and fourth in the standings respectively, while Luis Recuenco impressed with a much-improved performance at the Lausitzring. After a mixed start in Misano, the Spaniard showed the pace of his IVECO, indicating that the off-season work is paying off. Despite a solid weekend, he remains fifth overall, just 26 points behind the lead, with everything still to play for.
Luke Garrett endured a frustrating round in Germany. Persistent over-speeding issues with GPS tracker complications, resulted in multiple penalties - two of which were 10-second time penalties that affected his race results. His woes continued when a broken steering arm forced him to withdraw before Race 3. Garrett’s MAN has shown promising pace this season, and he’ll be eager to convert that speed into results when the championship heads to Slovakia.
Christian Ruppert continues his learning curve in the Chrome class. While still off the pace of the frontrunners, he’s gaining valuable data and experience every weekend and steadily building towards greater competitiveness.
It was also great to finally see Steffen Faas out on track in his new Freightliner, collecting some much needed points with a fifth-place finish in Race 1 and a seventh in Race 2. While Sunday brought more technical issues for the tankpool24-Racing team, the weekend marked an important step forward in getting the Freightliner race-ready.
