INTRO

„We were really close to another triple twice and once the situation from the recent premiere in Most repeated. But as I always say - one can expect anything in truck racing and anything can happen, even if things seem to be running smoothly. Now we could experience ourselves, we’re definitely not disappointed though, because we’ve just had another successful weekend,“ said MKR Technology’s boss Mario Kress.

Renaults from the north Bohemia were aspiring to excellent results from the very beginning in Zolder. The decisive Saturday qualification, i.e. the super pole, was ruled by Adam Lacko followed by Antonio Albacete, who had both remaining MKR pilots, Markus Bösiger and Markus Oestreich, right behind his back. Lacko, who had to cope with overheated brakes, did not make use of the advantageous position at the front of the grid. In the main race it was noone else than Albacete and later on his colleague Bösiger, who went past him. All three Renaults stuck together in the finish, crossing the line in the order Bösiger, Lacko, Oestreich; however, another ‘full podium‘ was taken away from the north-Bohemians by the golden boy Albacete. “It’s a shame. I’m fond of the track in Zolder. It’s narrow and it’s quite hard to overtake here. Fortunately, we sorted out the trouble with the brakes right away, so I got the chance to enjoy the laurels several times and repeat the whole manoeuvre one again, successfully this time,“ winked Adam Lacko.

In the afternoon handicap race the fastest eight exchanged their positions, so that MKR pilots started from as far as the third row. Despite this fact they managed to fight through to the podium. Markus Oestreich, who did not make his way there in the Saturday race, put a smile back on his face, leaving all of his opponents behind and taking home a well-deserved win. Albacete finished with a silver medal and bronze went to Adam Lacko again. Markus Bösiger recorded points for a sixth place.

Sunday morning reminded everyone of the above mentioned historic moment from Most. MKR team seized the super pole entirely. The fastest times of the trio Oestreich, Lacko and Bösiger secured the drivers the first three positions at the starting grid. “When we saw the times, there was a burst of euphoria in the team. We were secretly hoping to repeat the success,“ confessed the electric engineer Bedřich Frieser.

Emotions calmed down as soon as the pack went to the first chicane of the race, when the champion Albacete surpassed two of MKR pilots and afterwards the leading Oestreich, too. The following ‘drive through‘ took away all hopes from Adam Lacko, since it meant his move to the eighth place. Eventually, victory was celebrated by Albacete, second spot was occupied by Markus Oestreich and the third by David Vršecký, who moved his north Bohemian rival Markus Bösiger one place behind himself. “Albacete made use of the moment when there were yellow flags on the track and moved forward, hard to judge if entirely fairly. Silver is silver but we know we could have done better,“ stated Markus Oestreich.

In the afternoon handicap race Adam Lacko squeezed all the juice from the proverbial grapes, shooting from the first position at the starting grid all the way to the finish and collecting a second win for his team in Zolder. Surprisingly, Gerd Körber was the next to cross the finishing line, defending the silver from Spain’s Albacete. The last Belgian race had left Markus Bösiger on rank seven and Markus Oestreich on the eighteenth and finishing with technical difficulties. “It was spotless this time. The car went perfectly, I had a great starting position and there was noone close enough to threaten me, so I just kept an eye on where I was,“ added the triumphant Adam Lacko.

There are only two stops left in the schedule of this year’s Truck Racing Championship. After the Zolder event, Germany’s Jochen Hahn remains the first, the reigning champ Antonio Albacete comes second and Adam Lacko is on the third place. His colleague Markus Oestreich improved his standings to the fourth position. The sixth place is occupied by Markus Bösiger. In comparison, the team competition is going to be more nerve-wrecking, with the leading pair Cepsa/Bernau currently beating MKR Technology by twenty-four points.

The next, last but one stop of the European Truck Racing Championship takes place in less than two weeks at the Spanish track of Jarama (1.-2.10.). “Zolder turned out a little differently than we had expected. While the leader Jochen did not perform as usual this time, this weekend ended up great for Antonio. After all the complications, we were able to record the much needed points, so we’re still in the game for the highest ranks. Thanks to that, the season’s end is gonna be really thrilling but I believe we’ll be able to make things go our way,“ says the always optimistic head of MKR Technology Mario Kress.