ETRC - Jochen Hahn stretches title lead with Most double
Jochen Hahn enjoyed a fruitful weekend in the Czech Republic by scoring a decisive double win on Sunday at Autodrom Most.
The former multiple FIA European Truck Racing champion took two well-judged victories in his Hahn Racing MAN truck to edge out local favourite Adam Lacko and open up a 13-point lead in the title chase. The German put on a masterclass of truck racing to score his seventh and eighth victories of the 2016 FIA ETRC campaign.
Lacko, driving for the local Buggyra International Racing System team, finished the two Sunday races in second place and was able to celebrate a solid points haul with a large Czech crowd who cheered him on lap after lap during the whole weekend.
RACE 3
Jochen Hahn delivered a masterclass in wet-weather racing at the Autodrom Most as he converted pole position into a dominant victory in Race 3.
The triple FIA ETRC champion had pulled out a 2.267 second gap over Adam Lacko’s Buggyra International Racing System Freightliner on lap one and continued to build his lead with every lap, showing exceptional commitment in the difficult conditions.
The gap between the two championship protagonists exceeded ten seconds by lap 7 and although Lacko rallied in the closing stages, he was unable to get close to the Hahn’s Reinert-serviced MAN, who crossed the line with a winning margin of 8.641s.
Hahn’s seventh win of the year preserved his record of winning at least once at every round this year and extends his points advantage over Lacko to 12.
RACE 4
Jochen Hahn capitalised on a mistake from home hero Jiri Forman to take his second victory of the weekend in an action-packed race four at the Autodrom Most.
In dry, humid conditions after the earlier rain cleared, the German’s Reinert-entered MAN charged through from eighth on the grid, crucially steering clear of the incidents that embroiled many of his rivals to extend his championship lead over the second-placed Buggyra International Racing Systems Freightliner of Adam Lacko to a season-high 17 points.
After jumping ahead of Lacko on a fraught opening lap that saw Steffi Halm drop to the tail of the field after contact with Norbert Kiss, Hahn continued to make progress. His cause was helped when Rene Reinert’s attempts to pass Gerhard Koerber were firmly rebuffed, causing Reinert to lose momentum. Hahn then quickly passed an ailing Koerber, who would retire shortly afterwards, to seize fourth position.
However, Hahn wasn’t done yet and soon latched onto the back of 2015 ETRC champion Kiss. The Hungarian didn’t make it easy, but was powerless to resist Hahn’s charge and soon fell prey to Lacko too, the Czech doggedly following his rival through the pack and hoping to capitalise on any misfortune that should come his way.