ETRC: Hahn settles into the lead after season-opening Misano round

Jochen Hahn has emerged atop the Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship standings following the season-opening round at Misano, where the German ace kick-started his campaign on high, taking a victory, a podium, and a couple of top-five finishes out of four races

It was the reigning champion Norbert Kiss who qualified on pole position on Saturday morning. In Race 1, leading the field away, the Hungarian looked to be breaking away from the pack until a mechanical failure forced the four-time champion to stop at Turn 1, ending his race prematurely.

Hahn inherited the lead and quickly began to build a comfortable advantage and eventually won the race, starting pursuit of his seventh FIA ETRC title, and his first since 2019.

The second race of the day proved that despite early trouble, Kiss still is a force to be reckoned with. Starting from the back of the grid in wet weather conditions, it only took Kiss three laps to break into the top five.

By lap four, Kiss was right up with the leading Sascha Lenz. The German defended hard, but ultimately Kiss found his way through and went on to win the race.

The Hungarian secured his second pole position in as many days on Sunday morning and then converted it into a victory in Race 3.

In the final encounter of the weekend, Kiss managed fifth, after what was a hard-fought contest with archrival Hahn, who cross the finish line one place ahead of Kiss.

A victory and a podium plus a fourth and a fifth place allowed Hahn to accumulate a total of 45 points, six more than his closest rival, Antonio Albacete, who was victorious in Race 4 (taking his first win since Misano 2022), but also scored two more podiums and a sixth place.

After what was a weekend of mixed fortunes, Kiss sits third in the standings, nine points down on Hahn.

The second round of the eight-event Goodyear FIA ETRC schedule will be held at the Slovakia Ring from 10-11 June.