ETRC: Kiss and Hahn victorious in Poznań
Norbert Kiss and Lukas Hahn have shared victories in Saturday’s part of Round 3 of the 2023 Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship season held at Tor Poznań, Poland
Norbert Kiss, current leader in the standings, kicked off his weekend in Poland on high, with his fourth pole position of the season.
In race one the Hungarian never looked in doubt and took a commanding, lights-to-flag victory, with Jochen Hahn and Sascha Lenz rounding out the podium.
In the second, semi-reversed grid race Lukas Hahn took full advantage of his first starting position, and despite immense pressure from fellow front-row starter Steffi Halm went on to take his second career victory. Halm finished runner-up, with the lowest rung of the podium going to Jamie Anderson.
The closing stages of the race saw a close, bumper-to-bumper battle between the top five runners, with Jochen Hahn finishing just outside of the podium, and Race 1 winner Kiss in fifth. The Hungarian was doing his best to climb up the order, but having started eighth, he only managed to gain three places.
Third overall in the standings after the Slovakia Ring round Antonio Albacete experienced a difficult Saturday afternoon in Poznań, having finished fifth in Race 1 and then getting caught out in the opening corner incident in Race 2 and being classified 15th and last.
With two out of four races of Round 3 out of the way, Kiss has extended his lead in the overall standings by further four points and currently sits stop atop the classification with 122 points to his name. Second-placed Hahn has 103 points, while Albacete is still third, but having only scored 8 points in Race 1, he is now 35 points down on the leader.
DRIVERS PARISE ETRC’S LATEST VENUE
Several Goodyear FIA ETRC front-running drivers have praised the challenge presented by Tor Poznań, having turned their first laps in anger around the Polish circuit during Friday’s free practice sessions.
Reigning four-time series champion and current points leader Kiss was among the first drivers to point out the challenging nature of the venue. “It’s a little bit bumpy, I think you’re going to be able to see it from the outside. The trucks are moving around a lot,” said the Hungarian. “There are some quick turns, the rhythm is nice, and I enjoyed it,” he added.
Truck racing most decorated driver, six-time FIA ETRC titleist Hahn also praised the nature of the circuit. “The circuit is fantastic, the grip level is very high,” said the IVECO Team Hahn Racing driver.
“We need to find a good set-up and we’re getting there. I’m feeling confident. The weather forecast looks perfect. We like it here and we’re going to give everything to make a big show,” he summarised.
Three-time FIA ETRC title winner Albacete was another driver who gave his view on the characteristics of the 4.083-kilometre layout. “It’s quite technical, it has fast corners, but it also has medium-speed and slow corners,” said the Spaniard.
“Around the karting circuit there’s a very technical part and Turn 13, where you arrive very fast and it’s not easy to break and turn in. I had a little bit of a difficult spell there, but I also like the last corner a lot!” he concluded.