Sunday in Zolder Part 1 - Albacete nails down pole

21. September 2014Zolder - Many are feeling a sense of déjà vu this Sunday, at the seventh round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship in Zolder. Okay, it hasn’t been raining as heavily as it did in Most in the Czech Republic the last race weekend, but the persistent drizzle has made the asphalt extremely slippery.
The truck racers poured onto the circuit five minutes past 10 (because of the service at the little chapel in the infield, Sunday always begins later here in Zolder) for the warm-up - which was just that and no more. Nobody was taking any risks given the state of the track. The quickest driver was Adam Lacko (CZE), timed at over 2:14s in his Buggyra Freightliner. The next best time was two seconds off, and that too was some way quicker than the rest.
The rain had ceased by the time second qualifying began, but the grip levels didn’t seem to have improved perceptibly - even though the asphalt should have dried out under the tyres of race cars from other series that formed part of the supporting programme. It was clear enough in the circumstances that the top drivers’ usual tyre-saving tactic, of laying down just one quick lap, could as quickly backfire.
Once again it was Lacko who topped the timesheet with a lap of 2:12.980s. Surprisingly, for a long while nobody else seemed in any mood to crack the 2:13s barrier. Then, Hungarian Kiss decided to throw caution to the winds in his final lap, ending up quickest by a tenth, before the Czech countered with 2:12.577s.
The other drivers who booked their places in the SuperPole were Markus Bösiger (SUI), Jochen Hahn (GER), Antonio Albacete (ESP) – all MAN, – the Czechs David Vršecký (Buggyra Freightliner) and Frankie Vojtíšek (MAN), and René Reinert (GER), Jean-Pierre Blaise (BEL), and Stephanie Halm (GER), all also MAN.
Any hopes of a stirring performance from at least one of the top guns in the SuperPole were belied. The track surface was still virtually devoid of grip, and Kiss stayed unchallenged at the top with 2:12.309s for most of the 10-minute session... till Albacete struck once again with a lap of 2:11.998s, the only time under 2:12s, to capture pole. The times overall were 15 or more seconds off yesterday’s average.
The rest of the places on rows two through five on the grid were taken by Lacko, Hahn, Bösiger, Vršecký, Reinert, Vojtíšek, Halm, and Blaise.

Impressions: