In glorious hot and sunny conditions Jochen Hahn took pole position for the first of four races at Hungaroring this weekend after a thrilling qualifying session.
In glorious hot and sunny conditions Jochen Hahn took pole position for the first of four races at Hungaroring this weekend after a thrilling qualifying session.
Hahn, who sits just one point behind title rival Adam Lacko in the hunt for the championship, set the pole lap of 2m18.205ss on his first lap of the session.
Joining Hahn on the front row of the grid will be Ryan Smith in the Team OXXO Racing MAN. The Briton was just 0.197s in arrears of Hahn after the quick-fire ten-minute session despite a last-ditch attempt to steal pole position away from Hahn.
A fine third place was Anthony Janiec in the vibrant yellow Lion Truck Racing MAN. The Frenchman scorched around the Hungaroring to register a creditable 2m18.636s time.
There was disappointment for Norbert Kiss who ran wide at turn one on his first quick lap. But the reigning champion and crowd favourite fought back with a fourth fastest lap on 2m18.639s. The Hungarian hero will take some solace from registering the fastest lap of the day earlier in the qualifying practice session as he targets a victory charge this afternoon.
Steffi Halm (Reinert Racing) qualified in fifth position but will start in tenth after a five-grid penalty carried over from Nuerburgring. So, championship leader Adam Lacko who is still trying to find more pace from his Buggyra International Racing System Freightliner ‘FatFox’ truck will move up to fifth ahead of Ellen Lohr who starts an excellent sixth ahead of Gerd Korber, Jiri Forman, Sascha Lenz and the penalised Halm.
Race one of the fifth round of the 2016 FIA European Truck Racing Championship is scheduled to take place at 13.45 local time.
Qualifying Practice
Norbert Kiss delighted his home fans with fastest time in the qualifying practice session which set the top ten for the Superpole session.
The Tankpool24 Racing driver claimed the best time with a lap of 2m17.877s in his Mercedes-Benz truck. The Hungarian just beat Jochen Hahn by 0.098s, while in third position was Team OXXO Racing driver Ryan Smith who is excelling on his first visit to the circuit.
Anthony Janiec (Lion Truck Racing), point’s leader Adam Lacko (Buggyra International Racing System) and Steffi Halm rounded out the top six which was covered by under a second. Lacko and Halm were separated by a mere 0.004s!
The twenty minute qualifying practice session also saw a tense battle for the final position in the top ten as Frankie Vojtisek (Czech Truck Racing MAN) attempted to break in to the top ten at the expense of Ellen Lohr (Truck Sport Lutz Bernau MAN). But despite his best efforts Vojtisek was unable to get close enough to significantly threaten the position.
Sascha Lenz placed seventh ahead of Gerd Koerber (Team Schwabentruck), Jiri Forman (Buggyra International Racing System) and taking the final position was Lohr.
As well as Vojtisek, also missing out on Superpole were Andre Kursim (Tankpool24), Erwin Kleinnagelvoort and Dominique Orsini.
It was a tough start to the Hungaroring weekend for British driver Shane Brereton as he suffered a technical problem in the second Free Practice session this morning and was forced to sit out qualifying practice.