Saturday in Jarama Part 1 - Hahn gets back to business with pole

06. October 2018Jarama - The pilots of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship had their first taste of the newly re-laid track at Circuito del Jarama in free practice this morning under clear blue skies, the temperature around 10°C. With the exception, of course, of home hero Antonio Albacete (MAN), who’d had the opportunity to do several demo laps on Thursday and elected to sit out FP1.
The new champion, Jochen Hahn (Iveco) was fastest with a 1:57.762, two tenths quicker than last year’s champ Adam Lacko (Buggyra Freightliner). Both times were significantly better than those recorded at Jarama last year.
The entire field of 26 went out for FP2, among them all three generations of the Portuguese truck racing family Rodrigues – patriarch Eduardo, son José, and grandson José Eduardo. Hungarian Norbert Kiss (Mercedes) straightway shaved 62 thousandths off Hahn’s earlier time, and everyone waited with bated breath for the German to counter. But before he and the other half of the field could complete their first flying laps, the session was interrupted so that a truck stalled in a dangerous position could be moved away. At the go, Hahn’s retort was immediate: 1:56.749, more than a second faster than anyone else.
The others began to improve their times too, and by the close Albacete had come to within 76 thousandths. Kiss and German pilot René Reinert also made it under last year’s 1:58 barrier.
It was warmer at noon, when the racers went out for Q1, the temperature above 20°. They did a very slow out lap, and by the time the last man could cut the beam to start his flyer, half of the 10 minutes had already gone by. Hahn once again set the best time, his 1:56.914 topping Albacete’s by two tenths. Of course all that mattered was to qualify for the Super Pole. All pilots till P6 registered 1:57s and then eased off to saunter back into pit lane. Just to play it safe, because nobody knows how hard the new surface will be on the tyres. The fight for P10 continued till the flag fell on the session, German Iveco pilotess losing out to José Rodrigues by six hundredths.
Hahn and Albacete were joined in the shootout by Kiss, Germans Sascha Lenz (MAN) and André Kursim (Iveco), Lacko, Reinert, and an MAN trio of Anthony Janiec (FRA), Shane Brereton (GBR), and José Rodrigues. The new champion blazed to pole with the fleetest lap of the weekend so far, his 1:56.536 proving to be a solid seven tenths quicker than what Kiss could muster.
Albacete was third-fastest, followed by
Lenz, Lacko, Kursim, José Rodrigues, Janiec, Reinert, and Brereton.

Impressions: