KISS CLEARS THE FIELD BY A SECOND TO TAKE JARAMA POLE
A staggering 1:57.415 saw Norbert Kiss claim his 13th pole of the season, leaving Sascha Lenz over a second behind in second place.
The Hungarian was the only driver to break into the 1m57s lap times, securing his 13th consecutive pole of the season. If he takes pole tomorrow ahead of Race 3, he will have locked in every pole position from qualifying in 2024.
Defying expectations, Lenz and Antonio Albacete, locked in a tight battle for third in the championship, brought their fight to the front of the grid, qualifying second and third respectively. Just three-tenths of a second separated Lenz, Albacete, and fourth-placed Jochen Hahn at the end of Q3. Hahn will need to either make a quick move past them or avoid getting involved in their third-place battle.
José Eduardo Rodrigues and André Kursim rounded out the Q3 participants, with Rodrigues ahead after Kursim’s only lap time was deleted due to a track limits violation. Rodrigues' time not only secured him fifth place overall, but also pole in the Chrome class.
Steffi Halm narrowly missed out on a Q3 spot, qualifying P7 overall. She was three-tenths of a second behind Rodrigues in Q2 and unable to improve on her final lap.She starts just ahead of Luis Recuenco, who had a strong showing with P8, followed by Chrome rivals Mark Taylor and Steffen Faas, both locked in a tight battle for second in the Chrome standings. Taylor holds the initial advantage, qualifying just ahead of Faas, although both will start on the same row.
John Newell and Jonathan André rounded out the Q2 finishers in P11 and P12 respectively.
Only four trucks were eliminated in Q1, with Simon Faulkner unable to participate due to ongoing repairs from FP2. A spring failure caused one of the two red flags in practice, and Faulkner’s team was unable to complete repairs in time.
Bradley Smith led the Q1 eliminations, ahead of Clemens Hecker, Luke Garrett, and Craig Reid. If Faulkner’s repairs are completed and the stewards allow him to race, he will start P17 on the Race 1 grid.