It’s a hat-trick: Maciek Steinhof won the third round of the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in a row and thus consolidated his lead in the overall standings.
The 23-year-old driver from Poland had to defend his lead in a tough battle with Elia Erhart from Nuremberg and Simon Reinberth from Sweden, who clinched places two and three. The entire 15-lap race also saw close duels behind the three front runners in which the Swede Marcus Fluch kept the upper hand in fourth place in front of touring car rookie Kris Heidorn (Wunstorf) and Stefan Kolb (Karlsruhe). Steinhof had won Saturday’s race at Lausitz as well, followed by Kolb and Erhart.
“That was top-calibre motorsport: plenty of fair duels that remained thrilling all the way to the dying laps. ‘Well done’ to Maciek Steinhof; he’s shown a perfect performance so far,” commented Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “But not only the winner deserves praise: The rookies of our ‘touring car school’ have delivered strong results as well by clinching various positions in the top ten.”
“Three races, three wins – there’s no better way to start a season,” beamed Maciek Steinhof. But, yet again, the path to victory was anything but a walk in the park at Lausitz. “Prevailing against Elia Erhart and Simon Reinberth was a tough job but the fight was fair throughout and I’d like to thank both of them for that,” said the racer from Cracow. Steinhof maintained his lead after starting from pole and first had to fend off attacks by Reinberth. Coming up behind him was Elia Erhart, who – after winning a duel with rookie Kris Heidorn – was soon on the heels of the leading duo. “My Polo was running like a charm, first I overtook Heidorn and then Reinberth. I managed attacking Maciek but wasn’t able to pass him anymore,” said the 21-year-old German who mounted the podium for the third time in a row, now ranking as the overall runner-up with 88 points behind Steinhof (120 points). “I’ve got the right speed, I’m on Maciek’s heels – if he slips I’ll be there,” Erhart announced prior to his home round at the Nuremberg Norisring (27/28 June). Simon Reinberth was overjoyed about third place after his meagre results at the previous rounds. “I really enjoy the Polo Cup and hope that this wasn’t my last podium position,” said the 17-year-old.
The rookie classification saw three different winners at the three races held so far: After David Jahn and Nico Schilling, Kris Heidorn was the front runner this time. “After slipping on Saturday, I wanted to finish the race at all costs today,” said the 20-year-old. “Because the rookie classification is the most important aspect for me I succumbed to the pressure exerted by Elia Erhart,” said Heidorn, who took the lead in the rookie standings.
