ALBACETE TAKES HOME WIN AS TAYLOR SECURES CHROME TITLE
A sensational 2025 season comes to a close with an Antonio Albacete home victory and a new Chrome champion.
Starting on the front row beside Mark Taylor, Albacete had eyes only on the lead as they headed into the first corner. He took the inside line, holding his position as the two raced round the right hander to slide into the lead. Taylor stayed with Albacete for as long as he could, but the pair naturally spread apart as the Spaniard extended his lead. He crossed the line five seconds ahead of Taylor to the adoring cheers of the Madrid crowd.
The second place overall and Chrome victory saw Mark Taylor secure his Chrome title by three points. He didn’t have much pressure to hold onto the second overall, lapping to perfection to get the job done. Being only a point behind Bradley Smith as they came into Race 4 and starting on reverse pole, Taylor only needed to hold position to secure the title.
“It feels amazing,” Taylor said, when asked how it felt to take the Chrome title. “It’s been an up and down season, the team has worked so hard and there have been big emotions, but to finally get it done, to win it on the final race, down to the wire, it has been brilliant. I couldn’t have asked for a better three people to race with [for a championship battle]. We’ve all got our different styles of racing, they keep you on your toes and it’s been absolutely amazing.”
The podium was filled with smiling faces as Steffi Halm’s P3 was enough to secure her third overall. She had team partner Jochen Hahn behind her in fourth who was happy to help defend her position from the chasing Sascha Lenz, but Lenz couldn’t pass René Reinert or José Eduardo Rodrigues to be in a position to put pressure on the IVECOs.
Hahn and Lenz passed Rodrigues and Reinert respectively off the start, but Norbert Kiss couldn’t make any gains, finishing the final race in eighth.
The Chrome podium was completed by Clemens Hecker and Lukas Hahn with John Newell and Smith just off of it. The third place for Hahn secured him second in the Young Drivers Championship, behind Rodrigues and ahead of Smith.
Craig Reid finished the weekend with a P6, crossing the line ahead of Jonathan André, Simon Reid, Steffen Faas and Stefan Kursch. Only Luke Garrett was unable to complete the final race of the season after contact with Faas at the start led to a clutch failure that saw him retire lap three.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
