Friday in Most

31. August 2018Most - A walk around the paddock at Autodrom Most yesterday gave one the impression that the teams could hardly wait to get on with the second half of the season. But since the schedule this year does not include press rides and the associated hour of supplementary free practice, the boom barriers blocking access to pit lane were raised only early this afternoon, for FP1. The drivers, though, could have done with those additional laps – in the seven weeks since Slovakia Ring the teams made various adjustments to their trucks’ setups, and they’ve been waiting impatiently for a chance to find out just how successful they’ve been in scraping together those (micro)seconds per lap.
There was no comparing the times with those from free practice last year, when the track was soaked through. But Jochen Hahn’s (GER) Super Pole time of 2:02.074, the quickest here in 2017, provided a legitimate yardstick. As it happened, the driver who came closest to that time was the quadruple champion himself with a 2:02.781, the only time under 2:03.
The picture in FP2 was somewhat different. Hahn stepped on it to record a 2:02.399, still three tenths slower. But this time compatriot and Iveco teammate Steffi Halm, Spaniard Antonio Albacete (MAN), and local favourite Adam Lacko (Buggyra Freightliner) also broke through the 2:03 barrier, and MAN pilot Sascha Lenz (GER) came just eight hundredths shy.
Which of these is really declarative, or which drivers were simply playing poker, will only be known in qualifying tomorrow.
Later in the afternoon, 12 race trucks made their way in convoy to the city square, where the fans got close up to those magnificent men (and woman) and their racing machines.

Impressions: