British truck racer John Newell secured the provisional Chrome title in the Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship at Jarama on Sunday 4 October. Third place in the category's penultimate race put him beyond the reach of fellow Briton Mark Taylor, with one race still to run.

The championship's announcement expressly remains subject to FIA confirmation of the results. Jarama's signed final Race 3 Chrome classification separately confirms Newell finished third in his MAN truck for Löwenpower, ahead of Taylor in fourth.

The finish that settled the contest

The series' Race 3 report explains that Taylor needed to outscore Newell by four points to keep the title fight alive until the final race. Instead, Newell finished directly ahead of him, leaving the challenger unable to overturn the advantage.

Lukas Hahn won the Chrome contest, with Bradley Smith second. The final class result records all four completing 12 laps, and Newell finishing 1.881 seconds ahead of Taylor. Smith's podium and Taylor's fourth place meant three British drivers occupied positions two to four in that category.

Newell told the championship he could ease his approach once a gap had developed, concentrating on bringing the truck safely to the finish. That result ended the sporting contest before Sunday's last race, although formal confirmation of the championship still remained.

Sunday's results and season totals

Hahn also won the final Chrome race, taking both of Sunday's class victories. Newell finished the weekend with 315 points, compared with Taylor's 297 and Smith's 216, in the official championship points document issued after Jarama on 4 October.

The promoter continues to describe the season standings as provisional. Those totals record the completed seven-round campaign, rather than an intermediate score from Race 3, and should be read with the FIA confirmation caveat.

The outright results were separate from the Chrome contest. The championship reports that Norbert Kiss won Sunday's first race overall and Steffi Halm took the final overall victory. Newell's decisive achievement was the Chrome season title: a British driver heading the category after the last round in Spain.

Sources