Antonio Albacete initially claimed his second pole of the season but was also placed under investigation...
**UPDATED**
Sascha Lenz has been promoted to pole position after Antonio Albacete was handed a three place grid-drop for setting his fastest time under yellow flag conditions in the Super Pole session this morning.
Lenz is now joined on the front-row of the grid by Steffi Halm’s Team Schwabentruck IVECO.
Albacete now starts from fourth position after fellow original front-row starter Norbert Kiss was also penalised. The Hungarian will now start from fifth position behind Albacete.
Adam Lacko moves up to third on the grid with Andre Kursim promoted to fifth.
What Happened in the Session...
Truck Sport Lutz Bernau’s MAN driver Antonio Albacete scored his second Super Pole of the year in a thrilling session held in tricky conditions at Autodrom Most.
As the track became drier the Spaniard improved his time in the dying moments of the session to seal the pole. However, Albacete was left biting his nails as he was summoned to the stewards office after being placed under investigation for a possible yellow flag infringement.
The two-time champion recorded an impressive 2:10.588, just ahead of Norbert Kiss (+00.140), who is confident of a good result this weekend following a turbo upgrade.
The session was interrupted by Shane Brereton who spun his MAN and ended up on the grass at Turn 14. That, in turn, didn’t allow several drivers to improve their times.
SL Trucksport’s Sasha Lenz completed the top three, followed by championship leader Jochen Hahn (Team Hahn Racing/IVECO), Steffi Halm (Team Schwabentruck/IVECO) and Adam Lacko (Buggyra International Racing System/Freightliner) who was disappointed having shown dominant pace in the free practice held this morning.
Seventh went to Andre Kursim aboard his Don’t Touch Racing IVECO. The young German eclipsed Jose Rodrigues (Reboconort/MAN) and Rene Reinert (Reinert Racing/MAN). Spinner Brereton (TOR Truck Racing) ended up 10th but best of the GRAMMER TRUCK CUP competitors.
As well as Albacete, Hahn, Kiss and Reinert were also placed under investigation for a yellow flag incident.
No match for Lacko in Timed Practice
Adam Lacko paced the Timed Practice session held directly before Super Pole. The Czech racer first recorded 2:16.194 then to improve to an impressive 2:14.765 on his second lap in wet conditions.
Steffi Halm turned out to be Lacko’s closest challenger, but she was 0.837s off the pace set by the rapid Czech. On the timing screens, Halm found herself ahead of Hahn, Albacete, Kursim, Kiss, J. Rodrigues and Brereton, who rounded out the top ten.
Returning to the championship for the first time since the Nurburgring, Jamie Anderson ended up just outside the top 10 and second in the GRAMMER TRUCK CUP category and despite driving a truck for the very first time on a greasy surface.
Luis Recuenco (Truck Sport Lutz Bernau) was caught out by the treacherous conditions early on in the session and spun, recording 12th fastest time. The following places went to Oly Janes (Buggyra International Racing System), Terry Gibbon (T-Sport/MAN), Frankie Vojtisek (Czech Truck Racing Team/MAN), Erwin Kleinnagelvoort (SL Trucksport Scania) and Eduardo Rodrigues (Reboconort/MAN).
Steffen Faas in the second of the Team Tankpool24 Racing Mercedes-Benz trucks failed to set a lap time after his truck lost pressure and came to halt at the entrance to the pits. He’ll start 18th and last, provided that his truck will be fixed in time for race one, scheduled for 14:40 local time.
For full results click here.