Sunday in Nogaro Part 1 – Pole for Adam Lacko

12. June 2016Nogaro - The weather on the second race day of this, the 3rd round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship at the Circuit Paul Armagnac in Nogaro, was once again not at all what you’d expect in the south of France in June. But the forecast was for heavy cloud and no rain, which was welcome news for the racers and fans alike.
Morning’s warm-up saw Saturday’s protagonists back at the top, the two championship leaders Adam Lacko (Buggyra Freightliner) and Jochen Hahn (MAN), and the winners of the first two races Norbert Kiss (Mercedes) and René Reinert (MAN).
In qualifying all the trucks were back in the pits after only one flying lap, all including Scania pilot Erwin Kleinnagelvoort (NEL), who seemed to be content in 11th.
Lacko had driven the quickest lap in 1:54.086s, five-hundredths ahead of Hahn. They were followed by Kiss, Anthony Janiec (MAN), Reinert, and his compatriot Steffi Halm (MAN). Only nine-tenths of a second covered the first six, evidence of how closely matched the top group is — it’s the nuances now that are decisive.
Ellen Lohr, Sascha Lenz, Eduardo Rodrigues (all MAN) und Jiří Forman (Buggyra Freightliner) made up the rest of the Top 10.
As the SuperPole started, Kiss surprisingly pitted right after his out lap with an apparent failure. The team decided, as a precaution, to shut off the engine.
The nine others all went flat out. Lacko was quickest once again with 1:53.184s, Hahn was only a tenth behind, followed a further tenth behind by Reinert.
The rest of the start places were taken by Halm, Janiec, Lohr, Rodrigues, Forman, and Kiss.

Impressions: