KISS ON TOP AS TAYLOR TAKES FIRST ADVANTAGE IN CHROME
It’s another pole position for Norbert Kiss in 2025, but Mark Taylor takes Chrome class pole whilst his main championship rival was eliminated in Q1.
Kiss had led the way in both Q1 and Q2, but the battle looked like it might be on as Sascha Lenz stole the fastest first sector in his final flying lap. Margins were incredibly tight, even after the second sector, with Kiss only just ahead. Kiss sealed it in sector three, where he pulled clear to finish his lap six tenths quicker than Lenz.
Albeit a good start, Antonio Albacete was able to go within three tenths of Kiss’ 2:01.510, demoting the German to third. He was fourth before a penalty marker infringement for fellow countryman Jochen Hahn saw his relevant lap time deleted. His 2:02.280 was only three tenths off Kiss’ lap time, but the penalty and the fact he never pushed for a second flying lap saw him tumble to a P6 start.
Steffi Halm was also handed a penalty marker infringement, both her and Hahn hitting the same marker coming out of the final corner. However, Halm was able to get another lap started before the chequered flag, and although not her most competitive time, it was enough to secure her fourth.
This also came courtesy of René Reinert, who held back a little at the end of his first flyer after making a mistake to push again on his second. Unfortunately for him, his timing was a little off and he didn’t beat the chequered flag to start his second lap in time. This meant he was left with a 2:04.103, just over three seconds off pole-sitter Kiss’ time. He will start fifth, alongside Hahn, for Race 1 tomorrow.
Q2 was a battle of the Chromes, with John Newell looking at one moment to put Taylor under pressure. Having seen his championship rival miss out on Q2 by a hundredth of a second, Taylor wanted to lock in that advantage. Pushing a bit too hard, he got his first lap time deleted by hitting a penalty marker. But there was enough time left in the session to secure a competitive lap.
Jumping up to P8 as Taylor crossed the chequered flag — a place higher than before the lap time deletion — secured him Chrome class pole. He will start alongside Titan José Eduardo Rodrigues on the fourth row of the grid.
Luis Recuenco had a good session, taking second in Chrome, P9 overall. He starts beside Clemens Hecker and ahead of Newell, 10th and 11th on the grid.
Bradley Smith had just scraped into Q2, but a double penalty marker infringement not only saw his relevant lap time deleted for the first instance but also his fastest. Missing out on progressing by just over a tenth of a second, he will start 13th, five places behind championship rival Taylor. He’ll be aiming to make up as many positions as he can in Race 1 to reduce the points loss and also try not to lose sight of Taylor in the reverse-grid Race 2.
On his Goodyear FIA ETRC debut, it was a fantastic outing for Martin Macík, who not only has taken to the championship like a duck to water, but also made it into Q2 on debut. Aided by the Bradley Smith penalty, Macík had already been looking to threaten that P12 position in Q1, placing himself perfectly to take advantage of Smith’s demotion. All eyes will be on him tomorrow to see what he can do in his first championship race.
It was looking to be Christian Ruppert’s best qualifying of the year, outpacing Hecker and Recuenco briefly. He takes P14 on tomorrow’s grid.
Steffen Faas’ Freightliner woes appear to have returned, as for the second time today he stopped on track. Coming through turn 12, the tankpool24-Racing Freightliner slowed to a halt, bringing out a brief red flag to clear it from the track. He, along with Luke Garrett — who missed qualifying due to a split radiator — will start from the back row of the grid, hoping for more luck tomorrow.