RODRIGUES TAKES FIRST TITAN VICTORY
Getting the lead off the start, José Eduardo Rodrigues commanded the final race of the weekend to take his first victory as a Titan driver.
If Race 3 had you on the edge of your seat, Race 4 made sure to end the weekend on a high with another full-action race. From the start, Rodrigues looked on the charge and had Mark Taylor lined up going into the first corner. But he knew he had to press on; the threat of the Titans was incoming, and he wanted as much of an advantage as he could before they started chasing him down.
Sascha Lenz was on the move, looking very racy off the line. Starting P5, he was putting pressure on Steffi Halm and Lukas Hahn ahead of him. The move came to no fruition, but it set up how Lenz was going to attack this race in a quest for a home podium.
Lukas Hahn tried to help his dad, Jochen, in moving up through the grid, but his efforts cost him race position. Slowing to let Jochen Hahn through, he found himself overwhelmed by Norbert Kiss and Antonio Albacete, falling down the field. Trying to hold them off, he got wide going into Turn 8, taking a trip through the gravel and losing positions in the Chrome standings.
Jochen Hahn pushed hard, but as the race progressed, pressure from behind got higher. He had to go on the defensive to hold off a late race attack from Kiss, managing to hang onto second at the chequered flag. Kiss ended the weekend with another podium, finishing third.
Mark Taylor was on for a good finish until disaster struck halfway through the race. Looking to take a great Chrome victory and possible overall podium, it was going to be a great boost to his Chrome championship. The coolant pipe came loose on his truck, spilling water at Turn 8, which caused all trucks to take evading action through the gravel. Luckily everyone continued, but a lap later Taylor was pulling into the pits and out of the race.
Albeit fighting tooth and nail with Halm for P4, Lenz had to settle with P5 as the chequered flag fell. Albacete finished P6 ahead of Lukas Hahn who benefitted from Taylor’s misfortunes to take his fourth Chrome victory of the weekend and René Reinert as the final points scorer.
It became a weekend to forget for Clemens Hecker, who was looking to at least end on a positive note after the turbulence of his Truck Grand Prix. Not only did he pick up two overspeeding penalties, that changed from two ten second penalties to a drive through, but he was also given a five second penalty for forcing Bradley Smith off the track. Going from what could have been a class P2, Hecker ended at the bottom of the timing sheet.
This promoted Smith to P2 in Chrome, a needed result after the difficult weekend he’s had, and John Newell to third.
Quiet races for the remainder of the Chrome class saw Luke Garrett come across the line next, followed by Steffen Faas, Stefan Kursch, Luis Recuenco and Christian Ruppert to complete the classification.
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