KISS, HAHN AND HECKER ON OVERALL PODIUM IN RAIN DELAYED RACE 3
Rain set in over the Slovakia Ring, where after an hour suspension, Norbert Kiss went on to claim another race victory ahead of Jochen Hahn and Chrome winner Clemens Hecker.
It was a textbook dash in the rain from Kiss, giving him three out of three wins this weekend. Hahn was a steady second place, managing the conditions to perfection. The real battle was between Hecker and Steffen Faas, not only for Chrome victory but also the final step on the overall podium.
The race was heavily delayed as the rain poured over the circuit. It got underway at the planned race time, one lap under a full course yellow to assess the racing conditions. It was deemed safe enough to go green, and the grid got underway for seven laps of racing.
A small mistake turned out costly for Sascha Lenz. Running in third, he ended up off the track at Turn 13, stuck in the gravel track. This brought out the red flag to recover him, ending his participation in Race 3, even though his truck was drive-able. As per the regulations, he was not allowed to rejoin the Race 3 grid.
However, as the rain had set in now, the delay caused a lot of standing water on the track. This led to the race being suspended for just over an hour.
When the race resumed, it was once again under full course yellows for the first lap to assess the safety of conditions. The rain had eased off in the delay, meaning that the Goodyear FIA ETRC was good to get underway for the final four laps of Race 3.
Due to the full course yellows start, the grid had spread a little to aid in visibility and not get stuck in the spray of the truck in front. When conditions turned green the positions stood, with not a lot shifting from the original race start.
Faas was determined to pass Hecker, a position swap that had happened before the red flag. Due to count backs, the overtake was reversed. He tried with everything he had for the four racing laps, but it was to no avail.
Antonio Albacete had been lined up for third in Titan, fifth overall, but closed in on Faas in the final lap of the race. He made the pass, demoting Faas to fifth, but a slightly too early turn in from the German saw Albacete spun around. Faas was handed a five second penalty for the contact, but due to his gap to Bradley Smith – Chrome P3 and overall P6 at the time – he held onto his fourth overall and Chrome P2.
Behind Smith, René Reinert, Steffi Halm, José Eduardo Rodrigues, Luis Recuenco and John Newell completed the overall points finishers. Rodrigues will take reverse grid pole, sharing the front row with Halm.
Mark Taylor, and Luke Garrett came across the line next, with Albacete classifying between Garrett and Christian Ruppert after his spin. Lenz was the only not classified driver of Race 3.
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