Sunday in Le Mans Part 1 - Pole for rainman Lacko

29. September 2019Le Mans - Circuit Bugatti was visited by a downpour at the start of warm-up this morning. The top times, in the conditions, were a good 40 seconds over those recorded in free practice yesterday. The rain slackened somewhat and a relatively dry line began to emerge, as a result of which the pace started to improve. At the end it was the two wet-weather specialists, Norbert Kiss (HUN) and Adam Lacko (CZE), on top. The Mercedes pilot recorded 2:22.420, his Buggyra rival only two tenths more. The other pilots were all considerably slower.
The track was as wet in qualifying an hour and a half later. The five fastest lapped in the 2:24s, the 11th took more than 2:31. In normal circumstances the top pilots would be back in pit lane after one flying lap; this time they all stayed out.
The times dropped steadily, Lacko ending the session fastest with 2:22.729, the new champion Jochen Hahn (Iveco) more than a second slower in P2. Also qualifying for the Super Pole were the Löwen Power MAN duo of Sascha Lenz (GER) and Antonio Albacete (ESP), Brit Oly Janes (Buggyra Freightliner), Iveco pilot André Kursim (GER), Spaniard Luis Recuenco (MAN), and Germans Fabio Citignola (Mercedes-Benz) and Steffi Halm (Iveco).
For the first time, three Chrome-category pilots found themselves in the Super Pole. These include the new and less accomplished racers who primarily compete for the Grammer Truck Cup.
The conditions worsened, and the trucks in the shootout went slower than in qualifying only a few minutes earlier. Lacko took pole with a rather uninspiring 2:23.846; Kursim in P2 was more than a second and a half slower (whereas pole position this season has been won or lost by hundredths or even thousandths of a second). Albacete will start from third with Kiss alongside. Lenz, Hahn, Janes, Halm, Recuenco, and Citignola make up the next three rows of the grid.