KISS WINS, LIGHTS TO FLAG, AS TAYLOR'S ADVANTAGE SLIPS AWAY
Norbert Kiss and Mark Taylor were both looking set to convert their pole positions to victories, but a tension rod failure saw Taylor not only lose the win but fail to classify.
Antonio Albacete tried to make the move going into the first corner, but Kiss was ready for him, closing the door and looping the field around the first chicane with P1 still in his grasp. From there, it was a textbook race from the reigning champion, who crossed the line with over six seconds on his closest rivals.
Albacete looked like he’s done enough to keep second through the middle of the race, but Sascha Lenz pressed on in the closing stages. He managed to get close enough to line Albacete up for a move into the first corner, the two going side-by-side through the chicane. The Spaniard just managed to hold off the move, thankful that Jochen Hahn had caught up to the pair, meaning Lenz had to look in his own mirrors to keep a podium finish. The top three ended as they started, with Hahn just missing out on silverware at the chequered flag.
Steffi Halm and René Reinert were in a close battle for fifth throughout the race. It nearly cost Reinert sixth as an optimistic move saw him going wide, letting José Eduardo Rodrigues through, but it was only momentary before the #77 truck was back ahead.
Rodrigues’ seventh will see him on the front row of the reverse grid Race 2, alongside Chrome winner Clemens Hecker, who finished eighth.
It was an inherited win for Hecker as Taylor, who had led from the start, had a very comfortable gap to the German. It was looking to be the perfect race, possibly day, for Taylor, as not only was he about to put 12 points on his main championship rival Bradley Smith and take the Chrome championship lead but also get reverse grid pole putting him out of reach of Smith in Race 2. Sadly for Taylor and his championship hopes, it wasn’t meant to be.
A tension rod failure saw Taylor out of the race and in the gravel at Turn 15. The front of the rod snapped, digging into the track and lifting the rear of the #81 Taylor Trucksport. Almost being flipped, the incident broke Taylor’s rear axle and punctured his diesel tank along with a vast array of other yet to be discovered issues. This means that Taylor will not take part in Race 2, and Smith – with a clean race – will continue to build up a points buffer at the top of the Chrome classification.
Luis Recuenco and John Newell drove brilliant races to secure themselves second and third on the podium respectively. It was a quiet race for most involved, making it more important than ever to nail racing lines and keep it clean.
A good move from Luke Garrett on the last lap demoted Smith to P5 in the Chrome standings, with Martin Macík and Christian Ruppert completing the final classification.
Considering it was his first Goodyear FIA ETRC outing, Macík did a great job of staying with the pack and will look to keep improving throughout the weekend.
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