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Saturday in Jarama  Part 1 - Oestreich on Pole

Saturday in Jarama Part 1 - Oestreich on Pole

05. October 2013Jarama - After a starry night, the temperature here at the Circuito del Jarama to the north of Madrid some 700m above sea level was in the single digits early this morning. It was still dark when the first fans streamed in, looking to secure vantage points in the famous Farina curve for the first free practice at the 9th round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship. While the exuberant Spaniards cheered wildly for their Antonio Albacete (MAN) and, naturally, for the pirouetting drift artists from the Spanish national championship, like brothers Vila and Rodriguez Fernando (both Mercedes), the more observant among them were watching for the appearance of another Mercedes pilot, truck racing rookie André Kursim. The young German, who is driving a race truck competitively for the first time, did his first recce of the challenging Jarama circuit yesterday on foot with his mentor Markus Oestreich.
But Kursim cut a confident figure on the slightly damp asphalt, with an 18th place in the 28-strong starting field. At the top once again were the drivers you’d expect to be there, the two hottest aspirants for the title, Albacete and his German MAN colleague Jochen Hahn. But one driver was quicker than they — the Czech David Vršecký (Buggyra Freightliner).
In the second free practice, Albacete really stepped on the gas. In fact everybody went faster as the bright sunshine and rising temperature dried out the asphalt, improving grip. Only the Spaniard managed to break the 1:59s barrier, but his pursuers were all close behind.
This, of course, was only the usual dress rehearsal. It started to get really serious in the first timed practice, in which a place in the top 10 for the SuperPole was at stake. As is now normal for this qualifying session, the top pilots do just one flying lap and then return to the pits to conserve their tyres. It was the same story here in Jarama. The Hungarian Norbert Kiss (MAN) set the top time with a lap of 1:58.721s, followed in close succession by Albacete, Vršecký, Hahn, Oestreich (MAN), and the Swiss Markus Bösiger (MKR Renault). All lapped under 2 minutes, good enough for the SuperPole. The Czech Adam Lacko (MKR Renault), MAN pilot Mika Mäkinen (FIN), Frenchman Anthony Janiec (Renault), and German René Reinert (MAN) rounded out the top 10. All eyes were naturally on Kursim, who managed a 21st on the grid, and his predecessor in the tankpool24 Mercedes cockpit, Ellen Lohr (GER) in her Buggyra Freightliner, which she put onto 17th place.
And then it was down to the nitty-gritty. In the SuperPole, everybody’s attempt is to set the best time in their first flying lap, when the tyres are fresher. (In contrast to Formula 1, no tyre changes are allowed.) Oestreich apparently seemed to have found the best line in that one lap – setting the fastest time with a 1:58.114s, – despite Kiss managing to get up to within a tenth of a second by the close. The rest of the top 10 starters were, in order: Albacete, Hahn, Reinert, Vršecký, Lacko, Bösiger, Mäkinen, and Janiec.

Impressions:

Saturday in Jarama  Part 1 - Oestreich on Pole
Saturday in Jarama  Part 1 - Oestreich on Pole