ETRC: Kiss dominates as Hahn scores breakthrough win at Nürburgring
Current Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship leader Norbert Kiss was a dominant force during last weekend’s fourth round of the series, held at the Nürburgring. The Hungarian ace took three victories, while local ace Jochen Hahn managed to secure his first win since the season-opening race at Misano
Kiss enjoyed a nearly perfect weekend, clinching two pole positions, taking three wins out of four races and setting the fastest laps in all four races. This allowed the reigning four-time series champion to gather a total of 59 points, which is his second-best points tally of the season, only a single point shy of his Slovakia Ring achievement where he won all four races.
The Hungarian was particularly impressive in Race 2, where in wet-weather conditions he climbed from eight to first, taking a commanding victory despite a 10s penalty for overspeeding.
Behind Kiss’ back, there was not much to choose between the other front runners, Hahn, Sascha Lenz and Antonio Albacete, with the trio fighting for second overall in the standings.
Lenz, who is yet to win a race this season, enjoyed a solid weekend in front of his home crowd, securing a pair of second places and emerging as the second-best scorer of the weekend, with 41 points to his name.
Hahn finished off his weekend on a high, with a popular victory on home ground. The six-time title winner also secured solid points for second place in Race 1 and fourth place in Race 3, however, his weekend was compromised by a poor result in rain-shortened Race 2.
Having started seventh, Hahn was running sixth before spinning and dropping down to the back of the pack. In challenging conditions he managed to recover to 11th, failing to score points on this occasion.
Albacete experienced yet another weekend of mixed fortunes, with a pair of third places compromised by retirement in Race 4, having been caught up in the opening exchanges on lap one.
Steffi Halm and Jamie Anderson are also among drivers who could take positives away from the Nürburgring weekend, both scoring their second podium finishes of the season.
Next up on the Goodyear FIA ETRC schedule is Round 5, set to be held at Autodrom Most on the final weekend of August.