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Sunday in Le Mans

Sunday in Le Mans

19. September 2010Le Mans - Today it was even colder in the morning than yesterday – below 7 °C – but the sky was clear and gradually the temperature rose into the 20’s. The sun was shining and it was a nice warm late summer day.
During the warm-up the track was still quite wet in parts, so that most of the pilots restraint themselves a bit. Obviously the Swiss pilot Markus Bösiger (MKR Renault) had easily stomached his disqualification for overspeeding the day before and clocked fastest lap time. In the following timed practice his opponents improved their times, too, but did not yet lay their cards on the table, because their “only” purpose was to get into the top ten for the SuperPole, and there the times suddenly “tumbled”. The second pilot in the MKR Technology Team, Markus Oestreich (GER), clocked fastest lap time right away (2:05.915m); in the last lap Bösiger snatched away 2nd starting place from the Englishman Chris Levett (MAN) who had to settle in 3rd alongside his Spanish MAN colleague Antonio Albacete. Lined-up behind them were another MAN pilot, Jochen Hahn (GER), and the Czech pilot David Vrsecky (Buggyra Freightliner) followed by MAN driver Adam Lacko (CZE), local hero Anthony Janiec (Renault) and the two MAN pilots Alex Lvov (RUS) and Zoltan Birnbauer (HUN).
In the first race Albacete outgunned the two MKR pilots right at the start and took the lead. If the Spaniard won this race he would have the championship title all sewn up. But the two MKR pilots certainly did not like that prospect. In the first lap, at the end of the long back straight into the long-stretched 90-degree bend, Oestreich was on the more favourable inside track; he slightly outbraked the Spaniard into the turn and took the lead. Obviously Bösiger wanted to follow suit, but now Albacete was watching like a hawk, and with great skill based on his wide experience he defended his racing line, so that the Swiss never had a chance to overtake. Behind the leading trio the battles were much more aggressive. Vrsecky had found a way past Hahn and Levett, but the two MAN pilots were now trying to turn the tables on the Czech and launched an attack on the Freightliner which seemed to be a wee bit slower. In the 5th lap the German managed to pass and in lap 6 Vrsecky could not longer fend off the Brit who – cheered by the audience – sped past the Czech after a fierce attack while entering the finish straight. From then on the first six positions remained static to the chequered flag. Janiec was meanwhile in 7th and successfully defended this position against the constantly attacking pilots Lacko and Uwe Nittel (GER). Surprisingly the Freightliner pilot had not made it into the SuperPole, but managed to get into the points positions after only a few laps, but then he was stuck behind Lacko. The last position in the points was taken by Lvov.
In the final race of the weekend the top 8 finishers again lined up in reverse order. Lacko was in pole position ahead of Janiec, Albacete and Oestreich were placed on the 4th row right behind Hahn and Bösiger. In this race Albacete needed only one point more than Bösiger and Hahn to secure the championship title.
Hahn again made a superb start; first he outgunned Levett and a little later overtook Lacko and Janiec, too. Now the Swabian was heading the field. Bösiger and Oestreich were stuck behind Levett, they soon swabbed positions and together they passed the Englishman. A bit later – still as a pair – they overhauled Lacko and Janiec, too. Side by side the two MKR pilots did lap after lap and even managed to close in on Hahn. While they chased the leading driver, Bösiger eventually overtook Oestreich, but neither of them found to way to snatch away the win from Hahn.
Albacete was stuck behind Janiec, and – cheered by an enthusiastic audience of almost 52,000 – the local hero resisted all attempts by the Spaniard to overtake. In the final bend before the finish line Albacete was on the more favourable inner track; both trucks swerved wide and the Spaniard almost made a successful passing move, but Janiec countered his attack and finished 4th only a few metres ahead. Less than a second later Levett and Nittel came home in 6th and 7th respectively. The remaining places in the points were taken by Vrsecky, Laock and Lvov.
With 350 points Albacete further extended his championship lead and is now 57 points ahead of Bösiger (293) and 58 points clear of Hahn (292). In a race weekend the maximum number of points a pilot can collect is 60. Oestreich (250) is 4th in the overall ranking, followed by Vrsecky (197), Levett (186), Lacko (155) and Lvov (120).
In the team ranking both races were won by MKR Technology (Bösiger / Oestreich). In the first race Truck Sport Bernau (Albacete / Levett) was in second position, followed by Team Hahn Oxxo Racing (Hahn / Birnbauer). In the second race the two teams swapped places.