KISS AND TAYLOR TAKE OVERALL AND CHROME CLASS POLE POSITIONS
After being unable to take part in qualifying yesterday, Norbert Kiss has put Balu Junior on pole for Race 3 in Misano.
The steering issues that prevented Kiss from setting a qualifying time yesterday were a thing of the past as the red MAN took to the Misano World Circuit for Qualifying 2. He would go on to trade fastest session times with rival Jochen Hahn before saving two tenths on the German to secure Race 3 pole position.
Only 16 trucks took to the circuit as issues continued to plague Steffen Faas and his new Freightliner. During warm up, the turbo failed in the #24, requiring a complete replacement. The team conceded quickly that the repair time was too long to get out for qualifying, focusing on making sure all 17 trucks take the start of Race 3.
The first session saw Race 2 Chrome winner Jonathan André nearly demote Clemens Hecker out of Q2, missing climbing out of the relegation zone by a tenth of a second. He was the last to set a lap time in Q1, jumping John Newell to P13 in the Race 3 grid.
Stefan Kursch, Christian Ruppert and Steffen Faas were also eliminated from Q1.
Q2 saw Mark Taylor continuing his impressive pace with the#81, putting Titans José Eduardo Rodrigues and Steffi Halm in danger of not progressing to Q3. Halm managed to set a time fast enough to progress into the final session, but Rodrigues’ 2:03.455 was only good enough for eighth fastest.
It was a strong showing from Luis Recuenco, who starts second in Chrome, seventh overall. Bradley Smith took third in class, beating Clemens Hecker to P10 by seven tenths of a second.
Luke Garrett, who had a fantastic Q1 setting the 11th fastest lap time, was unable to set a time in Q2, defaulting to a P12 start position this afternoon. In the break between the sessions, it was revealed that the shock absorber had gone in the Garrett Trucksport #42 and he would not be able to take any further part in qualifying.
The one lap shootout commenced in Q3, and all eyes were on Hahn and Kiss. Hahn put in a valiant effort – a 2:01.844 – but Kiss’ 2:01.590 claimed him pole position by a quarter of a second.
Antonio Albacete lines up third, alongside Halm on the second row. Chrome pole sitter Taylor takes fifth overall as Sascha Lenz’ fastest lap time was deleted from Q3 due to breeching track limits. He lines up beside Taylor on the third row.
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