Saturday in Misano Part 1 - Norbert Kiss captures pole

24. May 2014Misano - Early in the morning the sun was already smiling out of a clear sky over the Misano World Circuit, just like you’d expect it to on Italy’s Adriatic coast in May. But this was only of marginal interest to the pilots of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship, who could wait no longer for the season to kick off. The JRT pair of Ellen Lohr (GER) and Antony Janiec (FRA) might contrariwise have hoped for more time — both their MANs are still out of sorts. And so only 18 trucks ventured out onto the track for the first free practice. Not surprisingly, title defender Jochen Hahn (GER) was quickest on his very first lap out, the bantam from Altensteig then producing an encore in the second free practice in his Castrol MAN. Only the slightest bit slower in both sessions was Hungarian pilot Norbert Kiss. Following them at some remove were two more MANler, Antonio Albacete (ESP) and Markus Bösiger (SUI), ahead of the two Buggyra Freightliners of David Vršecký and Adam Lacko (both CZE). But it’s only in qualifying that the drivers would really show what they and their trucks are capable of.
The mercury meanwhile climbed well above 25°C in the shade, and the track surface had inched up to 50°. Kiss scorched the tarmac with a 2:03.165 on his qualifying lap, a time that stood untouched through qualifying and the SuperPole. Albacete was second-quickest, followed by Hahn. As is their wont, the top pilots returned to the pits after a single lap to conserve their tyres for the SuperPole. Bösiger was fourth, followed by Vršecký, René Reinert (GER) in an MAN, Lacko, Iveco pilot Gerd Körber (GER), Benedek Major (HUN), and Steffi Halm (GER), the last two in MANs.
Now it was time for the shootout, which turned out to be somewhat anticlimactic — Kiss fell short of his qualifying standard by three-hundredths; the competition crawled closer, but nowhere close enough to snatch pole from the Hungarian.
A stiff fight for second place on the grid lasted till the dying seconds of the session. While it looked all along like Hahn would start from the front row, Albacete managed to best him on his final lap, only to have Hahn cross the line a few seconds later with a marginally quicker lap to reclaim second. Fourth-placed Bösiger was followed by Vršecký, Reinert, Lacko, Körber, Major, and Halm.

Impressions: