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Saturday in Le Mans Part 1 - Hahn scrabbles to Pole #12

Saturday in Le Mans Part 1 - Hahn scrabbles to Pole #12

28. September 2019Le Mans - The sun had just risen over Circuit Bugatti, but was blanked out by thick cloud as the pilots of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship pootled out for FP1. The temperature was around 10°C, and the track was slippery with dew. Everyone trod gingerly at first, but towards the end of the session the times began to tumble by the second. Spaniard Antonio Albacete (MAN) finished on top with 2:07.650.
It was marginally warmer during second free practice, but as murky as ever. There was no rain, thankfully, and that’s the way the weathermen say it will stay.
From the go the entire field lapped faster – with as many as 10 pilots clocked under 2:08 as compared to only two in FP1. Albacete, Iveco pilot Jochen Hahn (GER), and Adam Lacko (Buggyra Freightliner) traded places continuously, Albacete ending the session five hundredths quicker than Hahn and a tenth faster than Lacko. The Spaniard’s time: 2:05.673.
Qualifying kicked off at noon. Hahn drove to the top with a 2:06.220, Hungarian Norbert Kiss (Mercedes-Benz) a fighting 14 hundredths slower. Everyone expected these times to be challenged, but most of the Top 10 were more than content to come in and wait for the start of the Super Pole. Albacete, who was only ninth-fastest on his first lap, and in danger of relegation, made the leap to P3 on his second. But nobody came close to their times in FP2.
Steffi Halm, René Reinert (both Iveco), and Sascha Lenz (MAN) also qualified for the Super Pole, followed by Lacko, Iveco pilot André Kursim (GER), José Rodrigues, and Jamie Anderson (both MAN).
On the first flying lap of the shootout it was clear that the top drivers had some speed to spare. Hahn crossed the line in 2:05.965, Albacete countered with 2:05.814. Following a cooling-off lap Hahn wrung a 2:05.653 in the closing moments for pole position. Lenz also squeezed in ahead of Albacete, a negligible 28 thousandths slower than the polesitter.
Lacko, Reinert, Halm, Kursim, José Rodrigues, Anderson, and Kiss took the remaining positions on Rows 1 - 5. Forced to pit more than once with technical issues on his Mercedes, P10 was all there was in it for the Hungarian twice-champ.