Sunday in Le Mans Part 2 – Jochen Hahn wins the race and the championship, and leads „Die Bullen von Iveco Magirus“ with Steffi Halm to the team title
30. September 2018Le Mans - The chances of Buggyra pilot Lacko being able to foil Hahn’s fifth title sweep were as good as nil to begin with. The Iveco pilot was on pole for Race 3, and the Czech three rows behind on P7. For one, the Buggyra would have to rocket into the lead at the start to have even the hint of a chance to put 8 points between himself and Hahn, who would also, moreover, have to have a disastrous race. What actually happened was the reverse. Hahn made the super start and Lacko dropped to P11 on the first lap itself.
Out in front the Iveco pilot with Lenz in tow reprised his Race 1 dominance, and when it fell to Kursim to hold the heavyweights back, we weren’t the only ones watching with a feeling of déjà vu. Hahn took a fluent and uncontested victory, and Lenz a no less well-deserved P2.
The fight for the last podium place was fierce. Steffi Halm followed Kursim around like a tail, and on more than one occasion it looked like the Don’t Touch Iveco pilot had left the door open for his pursuers. Halm couldn’t capitalise on any of them, though, and instead was overtaken by an opportunistic Kiss. Kursim calmly held off his former teammate to seal P3 with a half-second advantage. Steffi ended up in P5, a nose ahead of Rodrigues, Albacete, and Smith, the Brit collecting pole for Race 4.
Reinert vs. Lacko for P9 was a hard fight the Czech putting the snout of his bonneted Buggyra past the line a whisker ahead of Reinert’s full-face MAN-in-blue. But the stewards found their prizefight a little too physical for their liking and handed out 30 second penalties to both drivers, dropping them to P12 and P13. This opened the way for Brereton and fellow Brit Oly Janes (Buggyra Freightliner) to sneak into the points.
Brereton also topped the Grammer Truck Cup classification, followed by Janes and another Brit, Terry Gibbon (MAN).
„Die Bullen von Iveco Magirus“ (Hahn / Steffi Halm) aced the team ranking for the third time in a row this weekend, to consummate an Iveco sweep – in addition to the driver’s title, it also won the European Champion Team distinction. Reinert Adventure (Lenz / Reinert) and tankpool24 (Kiss / Faas) were first and second runners-up.
Impressions:
