Thursday, 28.03.2024 | Deutsch | English
Sunday at the Hungaroring Part 1 - Kiss seizes home pole

Sunday at the Hungaroring Part 1 - Kiss seizes home pole

18. October 2020For the first time here at the Hungaroring this weekend there has been no rain, but it is very cold – at places around this circuit east of Budapest, the temperatures are barely above freezing.
The first laps in warm-up at around 08:30 were considerably faster than those yesterday, reflecting vastly improved underfoot conditions. Not only that; the individual times too kept dropping as the minutes ticked by, leaving local hero Kiss Norbi (MAN) on top with 2:18.864. Czech rival Adam Lacko (Buggyra Freightliner), MAN pilot Antonio Albacete (ESP), and six-times champion Jochen Hahn (Iveco, GER) were all a second and a half slower.
Kiss then proceeded to crush it in Q2 as well, recording a 2:18.048 on his first flyer, more than a second faster than Hahn could manage. While both returned immediately to the pits, the Iveco pilot got a fright when he was informed that his time stood cancelled because he’d exceeded track limits, which meant he was down in 11th with less than five minutes left. Most of the field had returned to pit lane when the German stormed out to reclaim P2 in the dying seconds with a more or less similar time to his first attempt.
Frenchman Anthony Janiec (MAN), Lacko, Albacete, Germans Steffi Halm (Iveco) and Steffen Faas (Scania), MAN pilot Luis Recuenco (ESP), and Buggyra teens Teó Calvet (FRA) and Aliyyah Koloc (CZE) also qualified for the Super Pole in that order.
First out, Kiss scorched the circuit to set a 2:17.111 that was not only two seconds below last year’s best time but also had the other teams rubbing their eyes in disbelief. The conditions, of course, were conducive to some serious track exploits – the cold, clear air making for a few additional horsepower, and the tyres biting better than on 40°C asphalt we’ve had at the Hungaroring in years past.
Lacko was almost a second slower; Hahn a further eight tenths. Kiss, absolutely certain of pole, trotted back into pit lane, while the others set off again after a cooldown lap. In the event, only Albacete went any quicker, but his best was good for only P4. Halm, Janiec, Faas, Recuenco, Calvet, and Aliyyah Koloc will start in order from the following rows of the grid.