VICTORY FOR KISS AS TAYLOR AND LENZ RETURN TO CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENTION
Taking his 19th win of the season, Norbert Kiss led Sascha Lenz and René Reinert over the line, bringing Lenz right back into contention for overall P3.
Lenz had a look a threatening Kiss for the lead going into Turn 1, but the seven-time champ had a fantastic start, putting any notion of an overtake to bed. From there, it was a typical Kiss win as he extended his lead to over ten seconds, taking the chequered flag first comfortably.
Lenz also had a quiet race, but after yesterday he will have been happy for that. The silver medal puts him just two points behind Steffi Halm in the overall standings, something that could be very attainable in the final race of the year. Advantage does still remain with Halm; not only does she have the points buffer but her P6 gives her reverse grid P3 to Lenz’ P7, but Lenz’ motivation to get overall P3 has skyrocketed after yesterday’s bad luck.
René Reinert did well to hold off Jochen Hahn and secure another podium finish. The Germans battled hard, with José Eduardo Rodrigues joining the fray in the final few laps, but Hahn couldn’t quite find a way past. Antonio Albacete crossed the line P7 after losing a place to Halm.
From being almost out of the Chrome championship battle to going into Race 4 as the favourite, Mark Taylor had the comeback race he needed. He knew his best chance of making up places was at the start of the race, and wasted no time making the move past Lukas Hahn. Clemens Hecker followed the Brit through, but was unable to stay with him to demote Taylor from taking his first class victory of the weekend.
The win moves him to just one point behind Chrome leader Bradley Smith, but most importantly the overall P8 means he takes reverse grid pole for Race 4. If Smith and Taylor end on the same points, Taylor will take the title on win countbacks, and with each place worth one point difference in Race 4, it’s all for Smith to do to prevent Taylor from snatching the trophy.
A valiant effort from Hecker saw him finish class P2 ahead of Lukas Hahn, but unfortunately it was not enough to keep him in contention for the Chrome championship. Smith was fourth, ahead of John Newell who now trails the current class leader by six points. It is possible for Newell to still win, but realistically it’s now a battle between Taylor and Smith.
Johnathan André followed the Chrome battle to cross the line sixth, ahead of Luke Garrett, Craig Reid, Steffen Faas, Simon Reid and Stefan Kursch. All 18 trucks are expected to take to the grid for the final race of the weekend, where all eyes are on the remaining championship battles.
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