Friday at the Hungaroring

15. June 2018Hungaroring - The second round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship at the Hungaroring near Budapest started off in extreme humidity and rain on Thursday, the day the teams pitch their garage tents. The rain fell ceaselessly from early morning and many were drenched through their rainwear. The heavy downpour stopped in the early afternoon, but it continued to drizzle intermittently thereafter, so there was no chance to dry your stuff out.
Today, the first day of action with 3,5 hours of track time – the VIP and press rides, plus the supplementary and regulation free practice, – we didn’t exactly have radiant sunshine, but it stayed dry nevertheless. The mercury fleetingly touched 25° despite the cloudy skies, and some of the teams used the opportunity to hang their soaking clothing out to dry.
Many used the extended track time to try out alternative setups; the race against the clock will only begin in qualifying tomorrow. Even so, Iveco pilot Jochen Hahn looked like the man to beat, with a top time of 2:18.382. Hard on his heels was Ryan Smith in the MAN of the Hungarian OXXO team, a little over two tenths slower.
MAN pilot Sascha Lenz (GER), defending champ Adam Lacko (CZE) in his Buggyra Freightliner, home megahero Norbert Kiss in the tankpool24 Mercedes, Spaniard Antonio Albacete (MAN), and Iveco pilotess Steffi Halm (GER) all finished in the 2:19s.
Call it shadowfencing if you will – nobody’s willing to reveal their true strengths yet, – but you can’t miss just how closely matched the field is this season.

Impressions: