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Sunday in Misano

Sunday in Misano

22. May 2011Misano - Again the temperature at the World Circuit Misano was around 30 °C, but the thermometer could never have risen as high as people’s temper did yesterday evening when the crash involving the German Uwe Nittel (MAN) and the Czech David Vrsecky (Buggyra Freightliner) was under discussion. Finally the stewards decided that today Nittel would be relegated 5 positions on the grid after the timed practice.
The crowd exceeding 30,000 watched a rather unspectacular timed practice, and also the SuperPole of the top-ten pilots went off very peacefully. Somehow it was almost the same procedure as yesterday. Jochen Hahn (GER) was again on top form, followed by his MAN colleague Antonio Albacete (ESP) and the two Renault pilots Markus Oestreich (GER) and Adam Lacko (CZE). Nittel finished in 5th, which meant he had to start from 10th position on the grid due to his penalisation, so that Renault pilot Markus Bösiger (SUI), Vrsecky, the two Brits, Chris Levett (Buggyra) and Stuart Oliver (MAN), as well as the Frenchman Anthony Janiec (Renault) all moved up one position.
The Schwaben-Truck Team could remedy the turbo damage the Iveco had suffered on Saturday and Gerd Körber (GER) managed to secure 12th spot on the grid for the truck’s first major challenge. Newcomer Steffi Halm (GER) in her tankpool24 Mercedes Benz could again improve her times and this time outpaced a much more experienced brand name colleague, Florian Orsini (FRA).
During the race the pilots continued to exercise „courteous restraint“.
True, in the heat of the moment there was some pushing and contact of different degrees, but never enough to give rise to any complaints.
The most spectacular collision was the one involving the two team mates Oestreich and Lacko, causing both podium contenders to drop back to the middle of the field. But the Renault group was more worried about the incredible superiority of the two MAN pilots Hahn and Albacete who again claimed a double-victory – even though Bösiger finished 3rd and took his first podium spot this weekend. Vrsecky had to settle for the unrewarding 4th position, followed by Nittel and Lacko who had managed to regain several positions. The remaining places within the points were taken by Levett, Janiec, MAN pilot Alex Lvov (RUS) and Oestreich. Körber came across the line in 13th and Steffi Halm finished in 18th, outpacing 4 other pilots.
In the second race the top 8 finishers from race 1 again lined up in reverse order. Janiec was on pole with Levett alongside, the winner Hahn and Albacete shared 4th row. After the start there was some hefty pushing in mid-field and even more behind them, but this did not upset the order. Levett pulled away quickly and had soon established an impressive lead, followed by a chasing pack headed by Janiec. In the second lap Lacko crashed into a stack of tyres and after a few more laps was forced to retire because of mechanical problems.
Vrsecky got into some tussles with another driver, but lost out to his opponent. Hahn was more successful in avoiding all the pitfalls. Within 3 laps he had moved up from 8th position to 4th behind Nittel and then started to reel in one after the other, passing first his German brand name colleague and then Janiec and Levett. And then Hahn was up and away, and in a dominant manner he clinched his fourth win of the weekend. In the final lap Albacete snatched 2nd position from Levett which meant another double win for MAN. Nittel finished in 4th, followed by Oestreich, Bösiger and Janiec. For 6 laps the Swiss was glued to the rear bumper of the Frenchman, but not before the final lap he managed to pass the white Renault. Behind Lvov, Körber crossed the finish line – cheered by his huge fan community – and gained his first points of the season. The Finn Mika Mäkinen (MAN) came home 10th, collecting the last point.
Steffi Halm made a great start and had already passed several of her opponents, when the Hungarian MAN pilot Zoltan Birnbauer spun off the track and when trying to rejoin the field crashed into a tyre of her truck, twisting the wheel rim. The tyre lost air and that meant the end of the race for the only lady in the field before she had the chance to cross the line for once.
In the championship ranking Hahn, with 90 points, has now moved up to the top of the points standing ahead of Albacete (80) and Oestreich (79), followed by Nittel (62), Bösiger (42) and Lacko (40).
In the team championship both races were won by Cepsa Truck Sport Lutz Bernau (Albacete / Nittel), followed by MKR Technology (Bösiger / Oestreich) and Buggyra Int. Racing Systems (Vrsecky / Levett).

Impressions:

Sunday in Misano
Sunday in Misano
Sunday in Misano
Sunday in Misano
Sunday in Misano