VICTORY FOR KISS AS GARRETT CLAIMS FIRST CHROME WIN
Norbert Kiss secured win 15 of the season as Luke Garrett became the newest name on the Chrome winner’s trophy.
It never looked in any doubt as Kiss defended the lead from Jochen Hahn off the line, comfortably remaining in first as the grid filtered into the first corner. Drama occurred behind them, but Kiss, Hahn and P3 Antonio Albacete settled into position quickly. It was a masterful 12 laps from the trio, seeing the top three starters take the penultimate podium of the weekend.
Behind the leaders, two drivers were determined to make up for difficult Saturdays as the racing got off the line. René Reinert and José Eduardo Rodrigues were wheel-to-wheel as they streamed down the main straight, both having had decent qualifying sessions and both wanting to be aheadRodrigues had the inside, but it was decided by the stewards that he had forced Reinert off the track as they came through the first chicane. Reinert was able to continue, but the contact and brief outing through the gravel saw him drop down the field. Rodrigues was given a five second penalty for the incident.
However, Reinert wasn’t able to take advantage of this, even though he crossed the line within five second of Rodrigues, as he was given a ten second penalty for overspeeding. He had enough of a buffer over Chrome winner Garrett to not lose any positions, but he didn’t gain any on his championship rivals.
Sascha Lenz had a great start, propelling himself up to fifth off the line after a disappointing qualifying. He was battling with Steffi Halm as the two of them tried to pass Rodrigues for fourth, keeping her behind as they took the chequered flag. He took fourth after Rodrigues’ penalty was applied, with Halm fifth.
Not only was Garrett’s win something that has been a long time coming for the Chrome driver, but he also managed to take it with a brake issue. The reliability of the #42 Garrett Trucksport has been hit and miss all season, a woe the team has carried from last year. But they’ve known the truck has pace, just never been able to put together the perfect race.
After a mistake in trying to take the lead, which Garrett rectified quickly by giving the position back, he found the perfect opportunity to make the pass on fellow patriot Mark Taylor. It looked to be plain sailing from there, as Garrett increased the gap between Taylor and himself. However inside the truck it was a different story as he lost water with one lap to go and his brakes were heating up with every turn. Luckily it held on to get him across the line first and seal the top step of the Chrome podium.
Albeit not converting his pole to victory, Taylor will be very happy with the silver medal considering where his main Chrome rivals finished. Bradley Smith, continuing to struggle with pace this weekend, could do no better than sixth in class, whilst Clemens Hecker seemed to lose all pace from yesterday finishing P8. This gives Taylor a seven-point lead in the Chrome standings with one race to go this weekend.
It was an all-British podium in Chrome, with John Newell getting back on the pace to take P3. He held off Lusi Recuenco who looked quick in pursuit of the final trophy, finishing ahead of Jonathan André in class P5.
Steffen Faas split Smith and Hecker for P7, seeming to be on top of the reliability issues that ruined his Saturday. He will hope to continue this and get more points on the board from the final race of the weekend. Stefan Kursch made it 16 trucks classified for the first time this weekend, finishing P16.
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