JARAMA QUALIFYING SHAKES UP CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLES
It’s advantage Sascha Lenz and Bradley Smith for their respective championship battles as Norbert Kiss and Lukas Hahn take overall and Chrome pole positions respectively.
Topping each qualifying session, Norbert Kiss took pole for the first race at Circuito de Jarama with a 1:57.131, eight tenths of a second over Jochen Hahn. The duo will lead the field over the line later this afternoon as the championship battles rage on around them.
Kiss and Jochen Hahn have their positions in the championship secured, but it’s the battle for third overall and the Chrome winner that will keep our attention this weekend.
Lenz takes first advantage over Steffi Halm for third overall, lining up P4 beside José Eduardo Rodrigues who has been delivering rapid pace so far this weekend. Halm was unable to make it out of Q2 when René Reinert put in a competitive lap time, meaning she will have some work to do to pass her championship rival Lenz. The pair are currently separated by a point.
Reinert recover well to progress to Q3 after losing his relevant lap time due to overspeeding in Q2. With time to put in just one more flying lap, he outpaced Halm by three tenths of a second to demote her to a P7 start position. He will line up P5 ahead of home favourite Antonio Albacete in P6.
Lukas Hahn takes Chrome pole for Race 1, ahead of Smith. Being tied on points at the top of the Chrome category, it’s exactly what the young driver would have been looking for from this session. All his rivals start behind him, with his closest rival having been eliminated from Q1. He will be looking to make sure he stays ahead of John Newell (starting P3 in class), Mark Taylor (starting P4 in class) and Clemens Hecker (P7 in class) when the chequered flag falls on Race 1.
Newell and Taylor will be keeping the pressure on as both of them are in a points deficit to Smith. With all the Chrome contenders so close, it’s shaping up to be a great fight on track.
Luke Garret and Johnathan André separate Hecker from the other Chrome title contenders, with Steffen Faas, Craig Reid, Stefan Kursch and Simon Reid completing the 18-strong grid.
This is going to be an important race in the championship competitions so make sure you tune in live when Race 1 goes green. Due to an earlier delay from another series, timings are about 30 minutes behind schedule, lights out should be at 1620.