RAIN SOAKED MOST NO MATCH FOR POLE SITTING KISS
The rain that was predicted to feature during Sunday’s truck action couldn’t stop Norbert Kiss from taking another competitive pole position ahead of Race 3 at the Autodrom Most.
Kiss was in a league of his own and there was nothing the chasing pack could do to rein him in. His first lap of the qualifying session put him 2.7 seconds ahead of the rest of the field, marking that not even the rain was going to slow the Hungarian down.
Home hero Adam Lacko put in a good showing in qualifying to try and catch the MAN truck, displaying that track evolution was occurring even though the rain continued to fall. He, Antonio Albacete, Sascha Lenz and Jochen Hahn all found time during their second and third runs, bringing Kiss’ advantage down to 1.3 seconds.
It will be Lacko who lines up next to Kiss for what will very likely be a wet Race 3, setting a time eight-tenths slower than the Hungarian. Lacko outpaced André Kursim by 1.4 seconds at the chequered flag, solidifying his front row start.
It was a great turnaround for Kursim who had a day to forget yesterday. He put in a strong qualifying performance to get into Super Pole and was unstoppable in his lap to take third on the track. However, due to the Mark Taylor incident in Race 2, Kursim was handed a three-place grid drop for dangerous driving, so will instead start Race 3 from sixth.
Steffi Halm instead will start third, ahead of Jochen Hahn and Lukas Hahn, the latter of which also took Promoter’s Cup pole.
After a good qualifying, Lenz could do no better than seventh in Super Pole and will share the fourth row with fellow championship rival Albacete. Jamie Anderson qualified ninth, whilst an impressive lap in qualifying gave Clemens Hecker his first Super Pole appearance of the season. Hecker rounded off the top ten, second in Promoter’s Cup.
It was a big blow for the Promoter’s Cup championship contenders, as neither José Eduardo Rodrigues or Steffen Faas made it into Super Pole. They will start 12th and 13th respectively as John Newell’s 2:22.314 just outpaced them. Luis Recuenco took 14th and the last spot on the Race 3 grid.
Sadly for Mark Taylor, the Race 2 incident has brought an end to his weekend. Taylor was cleared as medically fit to race and OK yesterday, but damage to the roll cage and various other parts of the #81 machine requires repairs that cannot be conducted outside of the workshop. The Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship expect Taylor to return to the grid with no issues at the next round in Zolder.
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