Saturday at Hungaroring Part 1 - Kiss collects first pole of the season and the heat is on

12. June 2021Hungaroring - The Hungaroring was bathed in sunshine. The sun shone brightly on home hero Norbert Kiss, who lapped faster than anybody else in both free practice sessions, in qualifying, and in the Super Pole.
His top time of 2:17.511 in FP1 was a second and a half better than Antonio Albacete’s and two seconds better than Sascha Lenz’s.
But as the track heated up everyone’s tyres started slipping. In FP2 the decomposition was more pronounced, but the order stood.
The clock struck noon when the trucks trekked out for qualifying. Kiss clocked quickest on his first flying lap, a 2:18.347, then pitted immediately. A few others followed suit – tyre conservation is a top priority in these conditions.
Sascha Lenz (GER) in the Löwenpower MAN, Czech Adam Lacko (Buggyra Freightliner), defending champ Jochen Hahn (GER) in his Iveco, Spaniard Albacete (MAN), Germans Steffi Halm (Iveco), Scania pilot Steffen Faas, René Reinert, and André Kursim (both Iveco), and Buggyra pilot Téo Calvet made up the Top 10.
It was sizzling now, and every square foot of shade was a welcome relief. The track was measured at well over 50°C in the sun, and in the cabins of the race trucks it burned like a furnace.
Kiss was as dominant in the Super Pole as he’d been up until then, staking his claim to pole position with a lap that was over a second quicker than Lenz’s for P2. The rest of the order remained unchanged – Hahn will start alongside Lacko on the second row, followed by Halm, Albacete, Reinert, Faas, Kursim und Calvet.