KISS CONTINUES POLE CLEAN SWEEP
Norbert Kiss was once again the King of Qualifying as he took his eighth pole position of the season.
The 1:54.033 didn't have as much of a margin as his fastest lap time yesterday, with Jochen Hahn only 0.274 seconds slower than the Hungarian in second.
It is a rarity in the final five minutes of qualifying for drivers to be able to set more than one flying lap time, but lessons learned from yesterday showed there was track time left on the Nüburgring circuit with most of the top six trying to get a second lap time in. Sascha Lenz, José Eduardo Rodrigues and Lukas Hahn all found lap time on their second runs, improving their best laps. However this didn't change the finishing order, with Lenz third ahead of Rodrigues in fourth and on Chrome pole, and Lukas Hahn fifth, Chrome second.
This was the first time two Chrome drivers had appeared in final qualifying, Lukas Hahn's first Q3 appearance of the season.
Antonio Albacete progressed to the top six, but black smoke emitting from his truck in the final five minutes saw his lap times deleted with not enough time to fix the issue. He will start Race 3 sixth.
André Kursim and Race 2 winner Steffi Halm were the Titan drivers who saw themselves eliminated from the top six, having to settle for seventh and tenth respectively. Clemens Hecker and Mark Taylor split the pair after setting competitive 1m55.7s lap times and going a tenth fastest than Halm. Hecker's eighth overall also gives him Chrome third, Taylor in Chrome fourth.
Steffen Faas and John Newell rounded off the top 12, neither of them able to break into the 1m55s lap times, setting a 1m56s time at the chequered flag.
Albeit having his relevant lap deleted due to a track limits infringement in first qualifying, Luis Recuenco was best of the Q1 eliminated in 13th with a 1:56.974. He starts ahead of Bradley Smith, Jonathan André and Luke Garrett to complete the grid for Race 3.
Garret, who has spent the first half of the season battling steering issues, is finally starting to feel comfortable with his MAN truck. The front axle, which had to be changed before the Zolder weekend, has now been replaced with his preferred axle. The Brit is hopeful that today he can start to show his pace and place himself competitively within the Chrome racers in Race 3 and 4. He aims to demonstrate where he feels he should be in the order at this point in the season.
.jpg)
.jpg)
