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Sunday in Misano – Part 2

Sunday in Misano – Part 2

19. May 2013Misano - The temperature was pushing past 25° when the truck racers took to the grid for Race 3, the first race on Sunday, in front of 35,000 spectators; the dark clouds and brief drizzle were long forgotten. But then the start was delayed a bit when it was discovered that a truck had lost diesel, following which the track had to be thoroughly inspected and the leak mopped up.
Pole sitter Kiss was overtaken by Oestreich right at the first corner, and then could just watch as a hard-charging Albacete surged past. In no time the Spaniard had left his German teammate behind, going on to stretch his lead to seven seconds at the flag. It looked like Truck Sport Lutz Bernau was in for a one-two — over several laps Oestreich effortlessly parried the varied attacks of his immediate pursuer, but the continual impacts with the Hungarian`s truck had knocked a plastic panel loose and the red-and-blue Bernau MAN was called into the pits so that the mechanics could remove the part. That stop cost the “long `un” from Fulda so much time that he was only able to finish 11th.
Kiss`s truck, meanwhile, had survived the consequences of its driver`s aggression with little damage, and he was able to take second place ahead of Vrsecky. Hahn had to make do with a thankless fourth. The rest of the points went to Lacko, Bösiger, Mäkinen, Körber, Janiec, und Reinert. Janiec was later disqualified for overspeeding and Reinert was awarded a 30-second penalty for clipping the penalty marker. That handed Renault pilot Jean-Pierre Blaise (BEL) und Oestreich the last two places in the points.
With his eighth place Körber was on pole for the last race of the weekend, the handicap race he`d also started on pole yesterday, but the Iveco driver fared miserably. After ceding the lead to Mäkinen right at the start, he slipped down to eighth only a few laps later. Mäkinen meanwhile kept a comfortable cushion between himself and Lacko to take his second win of the weekend.
A group consisting of Bösiger, Hahn, Albacete, und Vrsecky were fighting their own battle behind the leaders. Halfway through the race, though, Bösiger started to drop back, leaving Hahn in third place followed by Vrsecky und Albacete. Körber at this time had managed to recover to sixth ahead of Reinert, Kiss, Oestreich, und Blaise. That`s how they finished, and that`s the order in which we expected the points to be awarded. But then the stewards announced a few corrections.
Hahn was penalized 10 seconds for one overspeed event, which dropped him to fifth behind Vrsecky und Albacete. Körber was disqualified for multiple overspeeds, which handed sixth place to Reinert, ahead of Kiss, Oestreich, Blaise, und Janiec.
While Stephanie Halm (MAN) might have been reasonably happy with her performances today, Ellen Lohr (Mercedes-Benz) definitely couldn`t have been. Halm managed to finish 11th in both races with no harm to her truck, but Lohr had a torrid time throughout. Misano was the maiden outing for her untested tankpool24 Mercedes, and yesterday it was apparent that not everything was in order. Today her truck was in for a battering when she ran right into the rear of a competitor right at the start. The Mercedes spun around and was hit by several of the accelerating trucks behind. Many of the trucks almost stalled, and the drivers had to gingerly pick their way out of the mess.
Lohr fought her way back up a couple of places before her truck was spun around by the MAN of the young Pole Gregory Ostazweski, who tried to overtake Lohr on the inside of a 90-degree curve. The Mercedes rolled backwards before Lohr could take off again. All in all, two 16th places were the best she could show for her efforts at Misano.
In the first race Truck Sport Lutz Bernau (Albacete / Oestreich) took top spot in the team ranking ahead of Castrol Team Hahn Racing (Hahn / Mäkinen) und MKR Technology (Lacko / Bösiger). In the second race it was Team Hahn on top and Bernau second, with MKR again in third. Jochen Hahn leads the driver`s championship with 44 points, followed by Vrsecky (42), Mäkinen (32), Albacete (30), Oestreich (25), Lacko (23), und Bösiger (20).

Supported by Meritor Translation: Eliot Lobo

Impressions:

Sunday in Misano – Part 2
Sunday in Misano – Part 2
Sunday in Misano – Part 2
Sunday in Misano – Part 2