By In splendid conditions, the pace around the Varsselring was equally as hot as the weather, as a mix of anticipated front runners, series newcomers and European roads stalwarts, battled it out for pole position, for tomorrow’s IRRC Supersport races at Hengelo.
Third in last years championship, Pierre Yves Bian got his season off to a perfect start, finishing on top in qualifying, following two thrilling timed practice sessions.
Photo by Robby Repsol
Pierre’s lap time of 1 minute 52.264 seconds, was just enough to secure pole position, as he held off the attentions of fellow Frenchman Wepol Racing’s Matthieu Lagrive (1.52.436), who hugely impressed within his maiden foray into IRRC competition.
Third quickest behind ex World Supersport competitor Lagrive, was event wildcard Kevin Van Leuven (1.52.864), who was just over half a second quicker than Austria’s Jochen Rotter (1.53.383).
Championship runner up last year, Team Schleizer Dreieck’s Thomas Walther, got his 2018 championship challenge off to a solid start, finishing fifth quickest.
The top ten in qualifying, was finalised by Jonathan Goetschy (1.53.863), former champion Laurent Hoffmann (1.53.865), Thijs Peeters (1.54.525), Christian Schmitz (1.54.607) and Lukas Maurer (1.55.025).
Combined qualifying results, are as follows:
1 Pierre Yves Bian 1.52.264
2 Matthieu Lagrive 1.52.436
3 Kevin Van Leuven 1.52.864
4 Jochen Rotter 1.53.383
5 Thomas Walther 1.53.490
6 Jonathan Goetschy 1.53.863
7 Laurent Hoffmann 1.53.865
8 Thijs Peeters 1.54.525
9 Christian Schmitz 1.54.607
10 Lukas Maurer 1.55.025
11 Kamil Holan 1.55.832
12 Juha Kallio 1.55.975
13 Luca Gottardi 1.56.027
14 Sebastian Frotscher 1.56.422
15 Miroslav Sloboda 1.57.299
16 John Pilloud 1.57.399
17 Martin Riedl 1.57.583
18 Anssi Koski 1.58.022
19 John Ross Billega 1.58.071
20 Markus Witte 1.58.455
21 Herve Somson 1.58.661
22 Ilja Caljouw 1.58.981
23 Kai Zentner 1.59.804
24 Erik Plucker 1.59.926
25 Benjamin Beume 1.59.941
26 Quentin Limousin 2.01.735
27 Nicolas Ceuppens 2.03.043
28 Nicolas Robert 2.03.424
29 Krystian Paluch 2.04.464
30 Alexandre Bigot 2.04.944
Words by Stevie Rial
