Sunday in Le Mans – part 2

14. October 2012Le Mans - It was raining the whole day, sometimes more and sometimes less. Right when the drivers were getting ready for the starting grid for the first race on Sunday, the sky opened up. However, there was still a lot of water on the asphalt. The stewards imposed two formation laps and one lap under the yellow flag.
Unfortunately that did not change anything, because there was so much water on the race track which the drivers could not cope with. Hahn already turned into the pit lane after the first lap, whereas the polesetter Bösiger put an advantage between himself and the chase group, consisting of Oestreich, Albacete, Lacko, Kiss and Körber. When Lacko easily passed Albacete, it looked like a triple victory for the MKR-Renault team. Then Kiss started a vigorous attack. First the Hungarian passed Albacete, then Lacko and eventually caught up on Oestreich. After a collision the German spun around and therefore ended up next to the race track. He slowly made his way back on the track, but by that time the group had been long gone. After a check-up in the pit, the Renault driver went back into the race and was soon being overhauled by the group. That was when Oestreich and Kiss clashed again. Lacko made use of this situation and passed the two squabblers on the inside and made his way up to the second place behind Bösiger and ahead of Kiss. Extremely close behind the Hungarian, Körber, the Frenchman Anthony Janiec (Renault) and David Vrsecky (CZE/Buggyra Freightliner) made it over the finish line only seconds apart. Only then Albacete finished ahead of Mäkinen, Vojtisek and the Spaniard Javier Mariezcurrena (MAN) on the 10th place. The stewards then ordered several drivers to come and report. More than two hours later, but just in time for the starting grid, they announced a new result. 5 drivers received 30-second penalties, including Kiss and Körber. Due to this fact the starting grid changed quite a bit again. Kiss fell back on rank 8 and Körber even to place number 10. Everyone who had placed behind these two moved one place up. Mariezcurrena is now one place ahead of Körber.
Because of placing 8th, Kiss had the pole position next to his teammate Vojtisek in the last race of the season. This was the first time on this day that it was not raining but anyway the race had to be stopped. Mariezcurrena had crashed into Lacko and Bösiger and then also with the Frenchman Lacheze (MAN). The towing vehicles were called into action in order to pull the trucks out of the gravel. It took half and hour until the race could be resumed in the actual starting grid. The sky had turned darker again and everyone was waiting for the next rainstorm to hit. However, it stayed dry and there were still many more exciting things to come. Already within the first lap Vojtisek fell back to the end of the group and Kiss had established a huge advantage, which he was able to defend until the end of the race. Janiec had made it to the second place followed by Bösiger, Lacko and Vrsecky. The decision over who was going to place 5th in the overall rating was still to be made in this race between Bösiger and Vrsecky. Both had the same number of points, but Bösiger`s advantage in this race was so great that this highly competitive 5th place could not be taken away from the Swiss anymore. However, in the lap before last Bösiger was called in for a drive-through penalty. When he eventually drove out of the pit lane not only Vrsecky but also Hahn were in front of him. The decision made about the 5th place of the Championship was made in the Czech`s favor. In the end Kiss, Janiec and Lacko were standing on the podium. On the following places are: Vrsecky, Hahn, Bösiger, Körber, Blaise, Reinert and the Frenchman Jeremy Robineau (MAN).
Halftime through the race an accident had happened in the back of the field. The Spaniard Jose Bermejo (MAN) ran into the Buggyra Freightliner of the Russian guest driver Iurii Egorov, he then spun around, flipped and ended up on his wheels again. The driver got out of his black MAN and was apparently uninjured. The order of the Championship has not changed anymore. Behind the old and new Champion Hahn with 517 points are Albacete (468), Lacko (330), Oestreich (311), Vrsecky (284) and Bösiger with 282 points.

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