Sunday in Misano
23. May 2010Misano - Gorgeous weather for the 30,000 spectators, a blue sky and temperatures around 30 °C – and another gorgeous day for Markus Bösiger. In the morning the Swiss started the timed practice driving rather defensively, just like almost all the other pilots, except for Jochen Hahn who drove his MAN at full speed and was almost 2 seconds faster than the rest of the field. But during the super pole everybody stepped on the gas, bettering their fastest lap by up to 3 seconds. Pole position fell to Bösiger, followed by David Vrsecky (CZE) on Buggyra-Freightliner. Hahn lined up on the second row alongside fellow-German Markus Oestreich (MKR-Renault). The group of ten was completed by a phalanx of MAN drivers consisting of Antonio Albacete (ESP), Chris Levett (GBR), Balazs Szobi (HUN), Alexander Lvov (RUS), Adam Lacko (CZE) and Javier Mariezcurrena (ESP).
In the following race Vrsecky outgunned Bösiger at the start and took the lead. Lacko managed to slice past 2 rivals and moved up to 7th position, and in mid-race the Frenchman Anthony Janiec had worked his way up to 9th – but later on was disqualified for overspeeding. Otherwise the race was quite uneventful. Hahn tried several times to snatch away second position from Bösiger; the Swiss in turn was a few times stuck firmly to the tail of Vrsecky’s Freightliner, but the Czech always fended off Bösiger’s attacks, and eventually crossed the finishing line about 3 seconds ahead of the Swiss. But there was a nasty surprise in store for Vrsecky. Shortly before he was about to get on the podium, he was informed that he had incurred a 10-seconds-penalty for overspeeding and as a consequence was classified back in 4th position. This meant that Bösiger, same as on Saturday, got the full 20 points with Hahn being runner-up. Oestreich, the second MKR Renault pilot, claimed third place on the podium. Behind Vrsecky were Albacete, Levett, Lacko and Szobi, so that the pole position for the second race fell to the Hungarian. The top ten were completed by Lvov and Mariezcurrena – due to the disqualification of Janiec.
In the final race pole setter Szobi lost his lead to Lacko right from the start, and also Albacete, Vrsecky and Hahn pushed ahead of the Hungarian already in the opening lap. Now the chasing trio mounted an attack on Lacko. For four laps the Czech with the Monegasque racing licence managed to hold off the challenge, but one by one the trio succeeded in passing him. The leading Spaniard managed to pull away quickly, while Vrsecky and Hahn were locked in combat all the time, but the Czech held the upper hand and finished in 2nd. Lacko, who towards the end of the race was under constant attacks from Szobi, Lvov and Bösiger, finished in 4th. Although the Swiss was clearly faster, he was stuck behind Lvov, but because of his injured hand, and due to the fact that there are only half as many points to be gained, he wanted to take no risk. The last three pilots in the points were Oestreich, Mariezcurrena and Janiec.
The championship ranking is led by Bösiger with 44 points, followed by Hahn (38), Albacete (30), Vrsecky (27) and Oestreich (25). In the team ranking the first race was a sure victory for MKR Technology (Bösiger / Oestreich) ahead of Team HahnOxxo Racing (Hahn / Szobi) and Truck Sport Bernau (Albacete / Levett). In the second race Team HahnOxxo Racing was the winner, followed by Truck Sport Bernau and MKR Technology.
