Saturday in Le Mans Part 1 – Steffi Halm snags pole

23. September 2017Le Mans - Contrary to what its name might suggest, the 24 Heures Camions in Le Mans is a classic two-day event, at least as far as the
8th round of this year’s FIA European Truck Racing Championship goes. The pilots competing in the Coupe de France Camions were out and about yesterday itself for the VIP and press rides, and the supplementary free practice. That apart, there was nothing else of note to report.
The weather is as splendid as you’d expect in the northwest of France in the late summer, despite early morning temperatures in the single digits.
There was a surprise addition to the FIA entry list – English MAN pilot David Jenkins, who was to start in the British Truck Challenge, made a late switch to the European cohort. The number of starters remains at 16, however – Dominique Orsini’s Mercedes isn’t raceworthy yet after the engine failure he suffered in Zolder.
It was teeth-chattering chill when the first half-hour of free practice began, and the asphalt was quite slippery. But the lap times improved with the rising sun. Two hours later, when Session 2 kicked off, the trucks of the Coupe de France Camions and the British Truck Challenge had also laid down their practice laps, and the track was now faster.
German MAN pilotess Steffi Halm was first off with a time in the 2:05s; but others soon followed suit. The quickest lap came from Jochen Hahn (GER) in his Iveco, a 2:05.198. At the close the top six were spread less than a second apart.
But what really matters is qualifying – and the Super Pole for the top 10. It was noon by then, but the times were no quicker. Once again it was evident that the race trucks aren’t as fast on fresh tyres as on worn rubber that’s still good to go – Hungarian Norbert Kiss (Mercedes) was quickest, but his time of 2:05.376 wasn’t close to Hahn’s in free practice.
The German was in no hurry himself, and pitted after his only flying lap even though he was only seventh-fastest, his time surpassed by Kiss, Halm, her two MAN colleagues Antonio Albacete (ESP) and Sascha Lenz (GER), Czech David Vršecký (Buggyra Freightliner), and Iveco teammate Gerd Körber (GER).
The second Buggyra pilot Adam Lacko (CZE), German André Kursim (Mercedes), and British MAN pilot Shane Brereton completed the Top 10.
The Super Pole got off to a dramatic start a few minutes later. Lenz was out and around the circuit like greased lightning – his 2:04.860, as it turned out, being the only lap under 2:05. Not long after, that time was cancelled because he’d knocked over one of the corner markers. Regardless, here was an emphatic declaration, if any were needed, of the young German MAN pilot’s immense potential.
Steffi Halm took pole with her second lap, a 2:05.071. Kiss was two tenths slower, and then came Lenz, with his second-best time.
Hahn will start Race 1 from 4th, followed by
Albacete and Vršecký, Lacko and Körber, and Brereton and Kursim.
The trucks were very closely matched, less than six tenths covering the seven quickest.

Impressions: