REINERT CLAIMS FIRST VICTORY IN FRONT OF HOME FANS
With his company, Reinert Logistics, based nearby, René Reinert brought a smile to the face of all his local fans by taking Race 2 victory, and his first of 2025, at Lausitzring.
Mark Taylor led the field away from his reverse grid pole, a position he wouldn’t give up until the middle of the race. He drove the perfect defensive race, dealing with the pressure of the pursuing Titans expertly to hold onto overall second and his third Chrome victory of the season.
Bradley Smith did well to hold onto second off the start, but quickly the Titans swallowed him into the pack. He crossed the line P9 overall, second in Chrome with a fairly quiet race after the Titans had passed him.
Reinert looked on a mission as the track went green for Race 2. Starting reverse grid fifth after finishing fourth in Race 1, he was quick to get on top of José Eduardo Rodrigues and Sascha Lenz to get to second behind Taylor. Taylor fought hard to hold the overall lead, looking like he might be able to clinch his first overall victory of the season, but Reinert utilised the slipstream to perfection. Going into lap 7, he lined Taylor up perfectly to take the position into Turn 1.
From there, it was a breeze for Reinert to charge to his first victory since returning to the Goodyear FIA ETRC after a three-year break, aided by Taylor’s supreme defensive driving, keeping the rest of the top eight behind him.
Sascha Lenz made a great pass on Rodrigues to move up into a podium position. The Portuguese driver could do nothing as Lenz slipped past, already under a warning from the race stewards after making contact with Taylor. He tried to hold the position, but Lenz had his truck placed perfectly to sail to his second third place of the year.
Rodrigues was fourth, ahead of Jochen Hahn and Norbert Kiss, Steffi Halm and Antonio Albacete.
Having a clean race, Luis Recuenco was able to show off the pace of his IVECO at the Lausitzring with his first podium of the season, finishing third behind Taylor and Smith in Chrome.
John Newell raced to a comfortable fourth in class, 11th overall, with Luke Garrett fifth in Chrome, 12th overall. Garrett was handed a ten second penalty for over-speeding – his third over-speeding penalty of the weekend – but his 39 second buffer to final classified driver Christian Ruppert meant he did not lose a position.
Clemens Hecker retired on the first lap with a technical issues, whilst Steffen Faas was unable to complete more than eight laps of Race 2 before he headed back to the paddock.
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