HAHN TAKES HOME VICTORY IN FRONT OF 130,300 FANS OVER THE WEEKEND
In an incredible weekend, that saw 130,300 fans and visitors follow the on and off track action at the Int. ADAC Truck Grand Prix, Jochen Hahn gave his home crowd something to cheer about as he took the chequered flag for Race 4.
It was a perfect defensive performance for the second half of the race as he held off a charging Norbert Kiss to take his first win of the season.
It had looked like pole-sitter Jamie Anderson had it all under control as he stormed away from the pack as the lights went out. Second-placed André Kursim was swallowed up by those behind with an undesired start, giving Anderson the room to stretch an advantage.
The pack bunching up behind Kursim turned out disastrous for Antonio Albacete and Steffi Halm, who came together as the field filtered into Turn 1. Most of the grid continued, getting some cosmetic damage, but sadly for the Spaniard he was pushed off the track. Albacete managed to get moving again, but it was only to limp back to the pits and become the first retiree of the race.
Lukas Hahn had been looking to repeat last year’s heroics in front of his home crowd, but a suspect issue with the gearbox saw him becoming easy prey for the Titan drivers. He defended well, but fell down the order to sixth by the end of the race. Luckily for him, the rest of the Promoter’s Cup challengers were busy fighting among themselves behind him to be in a position to put pressure on for the class victory ahead of the chequered flag, giving him his third Promoter’s Cup victory of the weekend.
At the front, Halm did a great job defending from Jochen Hahn and Kiss, who were looking to start climbing up through the field. She managed to get past the pair as they fought to get past Lukas Hahn and held them behind for a couple of laps. It ended in disappointment for Halm, as damage sustained from her opening lap incident with Albacete became too much for her to carry on, and she too retired from the race on Lap 6. She was on line for another great finish at her home race, so it was a shame she couldn’t convert it.
Now with Halm behind them, Kiss followed Hahn through as he passed Kursim and Anderson to take the lead of the race. It then became a six-lap dance between the duo as Hahn did everything to make his IVECO as wide as the Nürburgring to stop Kiss taking his fourth win of the weekend. After a classic sparring, Hahn came out on top to give his home crowd his well appreciated first win of the season.
This paired with Lukas Hahn’s Promoter’s Cup win had the fans rocking at the Ring.
Sacha Lenz just missed out on the podium after a decent start. He was following Hahn and Kiss through the field, and their six-lap fight had him reeling in Anderson as the chequered flag drew closer, but he just ran out of laps to be in striking distance of the Brit, having to settle for fourth.
Kursim was fifth ahead of Promoter’s Cup winner Lukas Hahn. The rest of the Promoter’s Cup podium was completed by Steffen Faas and José Eduardo Rodrigues.
It’s been a good weekend for Faas, who has taken a decent haul of points after his Poznań appearance. Rodrigues still leads the Promoter’s Cup standings, but Faas has proven it’s far from over.
Mark Taylor and Clemens Hecker completed the overall top ten, taking fourth and fifth in the Chrome class in a fairly peaceful race. The pair had a bit of an on track battle mid race, with Taylor coming out on top. John Newell, Erwin Kleinnagelvoort and Luis Recuenco completed the finishing order, with Kleinnagelvoort and Recuenco thankful of the Race 3 and 4 extended gap to get on top of issues that had seen them retire from Race 3.
Rodrigues still leads Lukas Hahn in the Young Driver Championship, but another great haul of victories for the German has brought him closer in the battle of the youngsters.
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