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Sunday in Le Mans Part 1 - Kiss on Pole again

Sunday in Le Mans Part 1 - Kiss on Pole again

13. October 2013Le Mans - For those who wanted a bit of sleep the night was somewhat too short; for those others who, after the show on the track also wanted to enjoy the fireworks display at the concert and the various parties, it just wasn’t long enough. When the last warm-up of the season kicked off early in the morning at this 10th round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship in Le Mans it was extremely cold, but at least it was dry. The temperatures were close to freezing, and those spectators who drove to Circuit Bugatti at that early hour first had to scrape ice off their windscreens. That reminded old-timers of the weekend in 2005 when the warm-up could only start at noon because the track had been iced over. This time round, though, the tarmac was decidedly more trafficable. The times weren’t great, but quite an improvement nevertheless on those recorded in yesterday’s free training. On the other hand this was only a prologue.
Barely an hour and a half later it was time for the second qualifying, and the truck racers now had to show what they were made of. On the first flying lap the Czech David Vršecký (Buggyra Freightliner) shot to the top of the timesheet with 2:11.806s, followed closely by MAN pilot Jochen Hahn (GER), with his MAN colleagues Norbert Kiss (HUN) and Antonio Albacete (ESP) some distance behind. As is now customary, the top racers returned directly to the pits to conserve their tyres. The gaps were so large that they were certain of having made it to the SuperPole. For Markus Oestreich (MAN) and MKR Renault pilot Adam Lacko (CZE), though, it looked dicey. They were in ninth and 10th, and were in danger of being dumped out of the SuperPole at any moment. But then both really stomped on the gas and shot up the ranks into fifth and sixth. The Swiss Markus Bösiger (MKR Renault), the three MAN pilots Benedek Major (HUN), René Reinert (GER), and Mika Mäkinen (FIN) rounded out the top 10.
Five minutes later it was go for the SuperPole. First Kiss drove one superb lap, then Oestreich went top, before Kiss responded with a magical 2:08.686s that nobody could touch thereafter. The session was a picture of chaos — seven pilots had their times cancelled, and for many it was really touch and go. The SuperPole lasts only 10 minutes, just enough for three flying laps, of which the middle one is usually a cool-down lap before the driver goes flat out in the last.
This time the strategy had to be altered somewhat; the racers had to be on the limit for the entire duration. Hahn was ninth till shortly before the close, a couple of places behind Albacete, his fiercest rival in the championship battle, who has a four-point lead. But the bantam from Altensteig gave it all he’d got, dashing onto the front row of the grid next to polesitter Kiss. Vršecký, Bösiger, Lacko, Oestreich, Albacete, Mäkinen, Reinert, and Major made up the rest of the start formation behind him.

Impressions:

Sunday in Le Mans Part 1 - Kiss on Pole again
Sunday in Le Mans Part 1 - Kiss on Pole again