Jochen Hahn topped the Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship standings after the season opener in Misano, where the German ace started his campaign on a high note with a victory, podium finish and several top five finishes from four races
It was reigning champion Norbert Kiss who qualified on pole position on Saturday morning. In Race 1, leading the pack, the Hungarian seemed to pull away from the pack until a mechanical failure forced the four-time champion to stop at Turn 1, ending the race prematurely.
Hahn inherited the lead and quickly began to build a comfortable lead and eventually won the race, beginning his pursuit of his seventh FIA ETRC title and first since 2019.
The second race of the day proved that despite the initial problems, Kiss is still a force to be reckoned with. Starting from the back of the grid in wet conditions, Kiss only needed three laps to break into the top five.
On lap four Kiss caught up with the leading Sascha Lenz. The German defended hard, but eventually Kiss found his way and won the race.
The Hungarian secured his second pole position in a matter of days on Sunday morning, then turned it into a race 3 victory.
In the final clash of the weekend, Kiss finished fifth after a close battle with arch-rival Hahn, who crossed the finish line one place ahead of Kiss.
The win and podium and fourth and fifth places allowed Hahn to accumulate a total of 45 points, six more than his closest rival Antonio Albacete, who won race 4 (hitting his first win since Misano 2022), but also scored two more podiums and sixth place.
After a weekend of mixed fortunes, Kiss sits third in the standings, nine points behind Hahn.
The second round of eight Goodyear FIA ETRC races will take place at Slovakia Ring on June 10-11.
