Sunday in Le Mans Part 2 – Albacete wins fair and square

11. October 2015Le Mans - It should have been a straightforward matter for polesitter Kiss, unless he made a mistake like the faux pas in the chicane yesterday. The Hungarian’s performance in the practice sessions and in qualifying has been overwhelmingly superior.
But Albacete stunned everybody by leaving the European champ standing at the start and leading him with ease through the trouble spot. The Spaniard stayed surely (if scarcely) ahead of Kiss throughout, for a close but unthreatened start-to-flag victory. Kiss seemed to be holding back. If you thought the final race in Jarama was going to be fought on here, you were going to be disappointed.
Lacko had settled into 3rd place right at the start, and the Czech drove quite comfortably in that position to finish unchallenged and collect 12 points in the race for runner-up. In any case, he had cover from the rear in the form of teammate Vršecký. The other aspirant for second place in the championship, thrice champ Hahn, was behind Vršecký alright, but he also had Körber immediately ahead of him in 5th. And that meant he’d have to overtake two other competitors before he’d have any chance at Lacko. Instead, two laps from the finish, he was suddenly subdued by Janiec.
In 8th place and on course for pole for the concluding race of the season was René Reinert, who’d been luckless in qualifying. As a result of damage to his gearbox the speed limiter on his truck wouldn’t function. Reinert unwittingly overshot the speed limit and was consequently banished to the rear of the grid.
The MAN in blue was on song in the race, and Reinert wasn’t singing the blues anymore. He’d climbed to 9th in just two laps, and a little later was up in 8th.
Everything suggested that this was the way the race would finish, but then, just a few hundred metres before the line, Janiec suddenly slowed, allowing both Hahn and Reinert to pull ahead in 6th and 7th. Pole position was now the Frenchman’s.
The two ladies in the field, Ellen Lohr and Steffi Halm, took the remaining points.
This time it was Truck Sport Bernau-Albacete’s (Lohr / Albacete) turn to take the top step of the podium ahead of Buggyra (Vršecký / Lacko) and Oxxo-Lion (Kiss / Janiec).
Even if the championship was decided in Jarama, the fight for runner-up is down to the wire. Lacko has a five-points advantage, and should Hahn win the final race the Czech would have to finish second. In case of a tie Lacko would be runner-up, having won two races more than his German opponent.

Impressions: