HALM SECURES FIRST VICTORY OF THE SEASON
Starting from reverse grid pole, Steffi Halm concluded the Most race weekend with her first victory of 2025.
It was a masterful drive from Halm, taking control from the start by holding off Clemens Hecker to retain the race lead. She didn’t build as big a gap as José Eduardo Rodrigues did yesterday when he claimed Race 2, but it was enough to keep the charging pack at bay to the chequered flag.
Halm spent most of the eleven laps with a 2.5s advantage at the front. With just one lap to go, René Reinert pushed hard, putting Halm under pressure as the trucks circled the Autodrom Most for the final time. Known for her impressive defensive driving, Halm handled the situation perfectly to claim her first win of the season.
It had looked like Norbert Kiss wouldn’t do his usual charge through the grid, as after four laps he was still down in P7. However, he soon got back into the groove at Most and started making his way through the field. Helped by a mistake from Antonio Albacete as he attempted to pass for third, Kiss began reeling in Reinert and Halm as the laps ticked down.
Hanging back slightly, Kiss was smart to wait and see if the duo ahead would make a mistake and let him through with ease on the final lap, but this time it wasn’t meant to be. He stood alongside his team championship teammate on the podium in third, making it four trophies from the weekend.
The mistake from Albacete allowed Sascha Lenz to come through and take fourth at the chequered flag, while Albacete held off a late attack from Jochen Hahn to secure fifth. Rodrigues capped off the Titan competitors with a P7, a valiant effort after starting from the back of the grid. He was demoted for breaking parc fermé to make repairs after Race 3, but it didn’t seem to faze Race 2’s winner, who was already up to tenth by the end of the first lap and quickly gaining on the others.
Hecker took full points in Chrome today with another class victory to close out the weekend. For a time it looked like Mark Taylor might threaten for the top step, but John Newell in P3 kept him occupied from behind, forcing him to focus on holding silver rather than chasing gold.
The Chrome class is now extremely tight, with the top four separated by just 14 points and second through fourth covered by only three. Newell jumped up to P2 yesterday but finished the weekend P4 - still much closer to the title fight than before. Hecker will also be pleased to be firmly back in contention, now sitting third and just 13 points behind Bradley Smith at the top.
Smith was second to Rodrigues in the Young Drivers’ Championship this weekend after narrowly missing another Chrome podium with P4 (11th overall). He finished ahead of Luis Recuenco, Martin Macík and Christian Ruppert to round out the 14-strong classification.
Steffen Faas was unable to take part in the final race of the weekend due to his persistent fuel injector issue. Luke Garrett also failed to make the final grid as a clutch failure stopped him from leaving the paddock.
The Goodyear FIA ETRC returns in two weeks’ time, when the championship heads to Zolder.
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