Misano, Italy, May 27th 2022 - After several partial campaigns in the FIA ETRC, three-time French champion Anthony Janiec has signed up for a full season in the continental championship this year.
Still proudly competing on behalf of Lion Truck Racing, the 37 year-old Albi-born driver headed for Misano, Italy, this weekend for the opening round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship. Drivers were due to contest no fewer than four races during the weekend, the first instalment of the thirty-two they will complete in eight meetings this season. The Frenchman – in his famous yellow Man truck – is faced with stiff opposition from the fifteen other five-tonne machines competing in the ETRC, including the defending champion, Hungarian driver Norbert Kiss, who also won at Misano in 2021. After a fine performance in the first qualifying session, in which he claimed fifth position, Anthony Janiec was unfortunately slapped with a drive through penalty in race 1 and had to settle for fourteenth place. “The driver in front of me made a mess of his start and that forced me to cross the white line. I knew that I’d broken one of the rules,” he admitted afterwards. “It proved very costly. If it hadn't been for that, then we would have finished sixth.” Race 2 saw him move up to eighth position, before he finished tenth in race 3. The final contest of the weekend confirmed his improving pace as he claimed a very good sixth place. All of which augurs well for a driver who has competed in over 390 races in the championship ahead of the season’s next meeting, due to be held on 11-12 June at the Hungaroring (Hungary).
Championship update
The improving form of Lion Truck Racing’s standard bearer during this opening weekend puts the Frenchman ninth in the championship standings, just twelve points shy of the top five.
