HAHN CLAIMS POLE IN FIRST LAUSITZRING QUALIFYING
Jochen Hahn gave his home crowd something to cheer for as he outpaced Norbert Kiss for Lausitzring Race 1 pole position.
With seven Titans this season, it is not possible for all of them to feature in the final stage of qualifying. Still getting to grips with the new class, it was José Eduardo Rodrigues who missed out, only being beaten by Sascha Lenz by 0.091s.
Part of this can be contributed to the tyre damage Lenz suffered at the end of Q2. He got too close to the barrier and was forced back into the paddock for a tyre change. He, however, did not return to the track for the five minutes of Q3, defaulting himself to P6.
The battle was on for pole as Hahn led the way. His 1:47.550 set the benchmark to beat, and although others had gone faster in Q1 and Q2, this looked to be a very strong lap.
The pressure was on Kiss, who missed his braking in Turn 8, giving him provisional fourth position. It was clear there was time out there, but the question would be on whether it would be enough.
Kiss improved in all sectors, taking a purple sector three, but he missed out on pole by 0.077s. The improvement demoted Steffi Halm and Antonio Albacete to third and fourth respectively, but it gave Hahn his second pole position of the season.
Carrying a five-place grid drop from Misano, Albacete will start P9, with René Reinert, who qualifyied fifth, being promoted to Albacete's P4 alongside Halm.
In the Chrome class the battle for class pole came between Mark Taylor and Bradley Smith, with Smith coming out victorious. He beat Taylor by seven hundredths of a second. The battle between the two of them for class victory will be an exciting one. With the points so close, whomever wins will take class championship lead.
Luis Recuenco was the one to watch from practice this morning and was in the fight for class pole come qualifying. Missing out on this by four tenths, he starts third in class, tenth overall. The pace he has shown already this weekend, however, should still make him one to keep an eye on in Race 1.
Luke Garrett lines up P11 after losing his fastest lap time in Q2 due to overspeeding. Garrett had an issue with overspeeding in FP1, so hopefully the team can get on top of the transponder issue before Race 1 tomorrow.
Looking to build on his Chrome class lead, Clemens Hecker was pushing for every tenth he could find. He unfortunately pushed a little too hard, touching a barrier on his second flying lap. He continued with no ill effects, but there was damage to the front of the #25. Although he did progress to Q2, he did not take part in the session, meaning he will start tomorrow’s race P12.
John Newell, Christian Ruppert and Steffen Faas were the first to be eliminated, taking positions 13, 14 and 15 respectively. Faas managed to get one flying lap in, three laps in total, before heading back to the paddock. He is still suffering some issues with his new Freightliner, but he seems to be in a better place than he was in Misano. It is hoped that tankpool24-Racing and he find the sweet spot with the Freightliner soon and he can get back into the competitive order of the Chrome class.
Stefan Kursch unfortunately will not take part in the Lausitzring weekend after suffering an injury. It is hoped that he will recover in time to rejoin the Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship at the Slovakia Ring.
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