June 8, 2025

KISS TAKES POLE IN THE RAIN AS HECKER CLAIMS CHROME HONOURS

Norbert Kiss sailed to pole position for Race 3, but back in the Chrome class the fastest lap went down to the wire, Clemens Hecker and Steffen Faas separated by only seven hundredths of a second.

Sascha Lenz looked quick this morning, with the weather intermittent as dark clouds rolled over the Slovakia Ring. Ending Q2 with the fastest lap and two purple sectors, he was one to watch as the grid moved into the final qualifying session of the weekend.

But Kiss is strong in wet weather, and charged to another pole position this season with a second buffer on Jochen Hahn. Hahn also found some extra pace in the final session, demoting Lenz to third with nine tenths of a second advantage.

Antonio Albacete was back on track after missing out on Race 2 with a clutch issue. He did well to get into Q3, but was unable to make a mark on the final six runner. He starts P6 on Race 3’s grid with the top two in Chrome ahead of him.

Not only did Hecker take his first class pole of the year, but he also took overall fourth. He pipped Faas in the incredibly fast Freightliner by 0.079s.

René Reinert, José Eduardo Rodrigues and Steffi Halm were three of the six unable to improve on their Q2 times when John Newell brought out the red flag. Going too deep into Turn 13, Newell got beached in the gravel, needing assistance to pull him out. As there was only nine seconds on the clock when the red flag flew, Q2 was not restarted.

Bradley Smith starts Chrome P3, overall P7, ahead of Reinert, Rodrigues, Halm, Luis Recuenco and Newell. Yesterday’s Race 2 saw Smith swallowed by the Titan competitors. Today will see if he can hold off their pursuits as he attempts to catch the leading Chrome drivers or if it will be the same circumstance again in Race 3.

Mark Taylor will be disappointed with his qualifying performance as he tries to claw back some points in the Chrome standings. Unable to do any better than P13 overall, he has some work to do in the race to chase down his Chrome rivals.

Luke Garrett, who yesterday had some power issues, and Christian Ruppert complete the 15 strong grid.

The rain is hovering over the Slovakia Ring today, and the chances of wet racing as we go into the afternoon get stronger by the hour.

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