Saturday in Le Mans Part 2 – Halm holds out for victory

23. September 2017Le Mans - Going into Race 1 the sky was clear and the temperature now well above 20°C. That was all of a piece with Steffi Halm’s own joyfully radiant disposition at the end of the race. But even while it was going on her face must have broken into a fleeting smile – or three, because she’d not only made an excellent start but also used her pole position to good advantage to take a clear lead. Her front-row partner Norbert Kiss (Mercedes) had not the best start and third-place starter Sascha Lenz, her Reinert Adventure teammate, struggled with his clutch, elevating reigning champ Hahn effortlessly to 2nd.
Championship leader Adam Lacko too had problems getting away at the start and fell right out of the points.
Out in front Steffi soon had a sizable lead, and even Hahn and Kiss were able to pull away from their pursuers, so that the composition of the podium was no longer in doubt.
Towards the end of the race the two also closed in somewhat on the lady in the MAN-in-blue, as Steffi appeared to lift off a bit, but they posed no credible threat to her victory.
The battles for position further down the order were altogether more heated. Lenz appeared to have overcome his early clutch problems and, after an intense, protracted fight was able to subdue Körber, proceeding thence to make off after Vršecký’s Buggyra. He soon had the Czech right in front of his nose, but the realisation will quickly have dawned that he was up against something that’s brought many more experienced truck racers to grief this season – the insurmountable wall called Vršecký.
Why, Lenz has had a similar experience himself – despite attacking almost without remission, the street-smart Czech parried every thrust. At the line the German lost out on 4th place by only four tenths.
Following at some remove was a Körber-led quintet, engaged in unyielding combat. Towards the end of the race their fight got particularly physical, and the luckless stiff in all of this was Körber. He’d picked up a slow puncture in the early laps, and had to let Albacete past. But then came Lacko, who’d dispatched both Kursim and the Portuguese José Rodrigues (MAN). The Czech was now running 8th, which as tactics go was good for pole position for the following race. But when he saw Körber weaken as the air continued to escape his damaged tyre, he decided to attack without a pause. On the approach to the flag he was up alongside the Iveco pilot. Which truck would cut the timing beam first? It was impossible to tell … till Lacko’s name popped up on the monitor first, by a sheerest seven thousandths!!! Körber’s consolation for 8th place was pole for Race 2. The two remaining places in the points went to José Rodrigues and Kursim. The five trucks crossed the line in a space of only three seconds.
Reinert Adventure (Steffi Halm / Lenz) was the victorious team, ahead of „Die Bullen von Iveco Magirus“ (Hahn / Körber) and Buggyra Racing 1969 (Vršecký / Lacko).
José Rodrigues took top spot in the Promoter’s Cup, followed by Kursim and Brereton.

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