KISS BECOMES FIRST SEVEN-TIME EUROPEAN TRUCK CHAMPION
Race 3 victory has seen Kiss claim the 2025 Goodyear FIA ETRC title and become the first to manage this seven times in the series’ history.
It was a clean race from everyone involved, keeping the eleven laps incident free. Jochen Hahn tried to make the pass on Kiss going up towards the Dunlop Bridge, but the now seven-time champion was expecting it and covered it off to retain the lead. From there, it was plain sailing for Kiss to cruise to the line and secure the 2025 title.
“I’m very proud,” Kiss said after the race. “Ten years ago, I never thought we would get here but finally we are here. I’m very thankful to the team. They did an incredible job the last six years. Especially this year when we built a new race truck for the season and start winning races right away. The team can be really proud of the job they have done. To achieve the seventh title with a brand new tuck I think is a very special achievement.
“I’m very happy that Jochen is still here in the field and I’ve won all my titles against him. It makes this achievement even more special. I think he’s a great driver, he’s always a challenge and you can never count him out. I am really proud to race against him and achieve these results together with him.”
Sascha Lenz was able to get past José Eduardo Rodrigues to pick up another podium this weekend, now passing Steffi Halm for third in the overall standings. Considering the start of the season Lenz had, this is a great achievement to be in strong contention to place third at the end of the season.
Halm was pushing hard to convert her P6 into P5, as Antonio Albacete once again looked to struggle a bit with pace this weekend. Despite spending most of the race on his rear bumper, she couldn’t find the moment to make the pass, having to settle for her start position at the chequered flag.
René Reinert also converted his start position to his race result, and the P7 puts him on the front row for Race 4’s reverse grid. He will line up beside Clemens Hecker who will start reverse grid pole after taking victory in the Chrome standings.
Luis Recuenco led the Chrome field over the line, but it wasn’t long before Hecker, Mark Taylor and John Newell were all over him. Coming round the final corner of the first lap, the trio put the pressure on, losing the class pole sitter three places before they made it onto the main straight.
With a much better Race 3 than Race 1, Taylor happily took the points for second. He did try to reel Hecker in as the race progressed, but there wasn’t a moment to get close enough to swap positions. Newell too looked interested in Taylor’s P2, but was happy to take another podium from the weekend, strengthening his place at the top of the Chrome standings.
Recuenco finished fourth in class, ahead of Steffen Faas and Bradley Smith. It was the opposite of what Smith would have been hoping for after building a points lead yesterday, finishing sixth in class with all of his rivals ahead. He still leads from Newell, Hecker and Taylor, but his lead has been halved after the Race 3 result.
Luke Garrett finished P7 in class after looking at one stage to threaten Recuenco for P4. He crossed the line but was unable to make it back to the paddock unassisted as his reliability woes continue this weekend. Hopefully the issue can be resolved so Garrett can take to the grid for the final race of the weekend later this afternoon.
Simon Reid led brother Craig across the line for P15/P16 respectively, with Stefan Kursch and Christian Ruppert making it all 18 trucks classified from Race 4.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
