Race 4 flash report: Kiss denies Taylor for Goodyear FIA ETRC quadruple
Norbert Kiss enjoyed a Slovakia Ring weekend to remember with four wins out of four during round two of the 2026 Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship after he denied Mark Taylor a maiden outright victory by 0.974s.
Taylor, from third on the grid, made it three wide going into Turn 1, running between pole sitter Luke Garrett and René Reinert, who was on the outside. Although Garrett remained in front, Taylor sneaked into second before he took first place nearing the end of the opening lap.
Having pulled clear of the chasing pack, Taylor went from being the hunter to the hunted as fellow MAN-powered driver Kiss began to close up. With two laps to go, the Hungarian’s charge from eighth on the partially-reversed Race 4 grid, had brought him to within 2.535s of Taylor, which became 1.6s by the end of lap seven.
Although Taylor was giving his all to remain in front, a lock-up allowed Kiss through a handful of corners from home. But while the Briton lost out on the overall victory, Taylor’s Chrome category triumph was his third of the Slovakia Ring weekend and kick-started his title defence.
“Overall, it’s good, a good end to a great weekend,” said Taylor. “Luke left the door open for me, it gave me the opportunity to get in front and make a run for it and that’s what I did. I saw Norbi and Steffi fighting and we were good until the last lap. I defended Norbi a little bit too early and had a slight lock-up. But all in all, I’m pleased.”
Kiss’s progress through the pack was eased when Albacete made a lunge on Garrett at Turn 10 on lap two, which sent both drivers wide and allowed Kiss to sneak through into third.
Having overtaken Reinert on the start/finish straight earlier on lap two, the seven-time winner of the Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship overtook Halm for second with a fine move on lap five before he set off in his pursuit of Taylor and win number seven of the season.
“Again I made my move,” said Kiss, who also won the reversed-grid Race 2 with a final-lap pass. “He started to defend and it was easier for him to make a mistake, locked his brakes and went wide, then it was easy to overtake him. With two laps to go I was trying to do my best, everything was getting hot, and the lap times were not good. It was difficult but I was hoping, you never give up and I was trying to reach him and then on the last lap the opportunity was there and I made it work. Amazing weekend with four wins and I’m really happy to do it here in Slovakia, it’s like a home race with a lot of Hungarian fans. I’m really proud of the team, Révész Racing because they did an amazing job again.”
IVECO-powered Steffi Halm, who gave chase to Taylor initially, finished third ahead of Antonio Albacete, Reinert and Garrett, who finished second in Chrome ahead of John Newell. Newell placed eighth overall behind Sascha Lenz, voted by fans as the Goodyear Wingfoot Award winner.
Mercedes-Benz-powered Luis Recuenco finished ninth ahead of Steffen Faas and Clemens Hecker. However, a power issue forced Race 3 Chrome winner Bradley Smith into early retirement, while Jochen Hahn, a winner of the Goodyear FIA ETRC title on six occasion was a non-starter due to mechanical issues. José Eduardo Rodrigues also failed to start with damage sustained in a first-corner crash with Reinert in Race 3.
Revisit Race 4 on YouTube. Follow the Goodyear FIA ETRC on the Sportity app for all results using the password: FIA_ETRC_26.
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