Renault: More hill climbs count in 2018
REACTION TO 2017 Last year, Philipp Krebs, a Renault Classic Cup driver, was at the top of the standings in the Berg-Pokal before the final race. Nevertheless, he only finished fourth. In order to increase the chances of club members, seven hill climbs will count towards the Cup in 2018, in addition to two slaloms and two round robin races each. Following resignations, the board [...]
With his fourth win of the season in the separate Renault Clio Cup class, Philipp Krebs had taken over the top spot in the Swiss Hillclimb Cup standings after the sixth hillclimb race last year. Nevertheless, he was no longer eligible as champion, as the Renault Classic Club, as usual, did not have the last hillclimb race in Les Paccots on its calendar.
This is different in 2018. To increase its members' chances of at least a podium finish in this sub-ranking of the Swiss Mountain Championship, they can score points for the internal club ranking at seven of the eight mountain races (all except Massongex). Six out of eight results are scored for the Mountain Cup.
The hill climb Châtel-St-Denis-Les Paccots is also the final round of the Renault Classic Cup 2018 on September 16. Individual Clio drivers will probably still start on October 7 at the popular Equipe Bernoise slalom in Ambri, as some are also EB club members with sporting ambitions.
Two circuit races and two slaloms
Traditionally, the Renault season begins in mid-April with a circuit race in Hockenheim (two rounds), followed by the Interlaken slalom (in 2017 it was Frauenfeld). After that, the Swiss Clios race again in May at the beautiful Red Bull Ring in Austria.
One week after the uphill start in Hemberg (June 10), they will compete again in a slalom (in Romont) before moving only uphill. No other race series registered with Auto Sport Schweiz (ASS) offers its drivers so much variety.
For the participants with ambitions, however, this means that they should not be strong in just one discipline. Of the 13 heats, however, only the best ten results count.
A master with many skills
The best all-rounder in 2017 was Denis Wolf, who well deserved his first title with five successes - at least one win in each discipline. Ralf Henggeler finished second ahead of Krebs as the clear fastest driver in an older (and lighter) Clio II. In the mountain cup, the Bernese still slipped from first to the ungrateful fourth place due to the absence in Les Paccots.
14 drivers scored points in at least one race in 2017, and all of them, along with supporters and other guests, met for the drivers' meeting and final evening.
As a result of the resignations of Martina Casutt (Vice President/Marketing) and Rolf Schori (Assessor), the 2018 Board is composed as follows: Roger D. Meyer (President), Thomas Zürcher (as before Head of Sports and new Vice President), Angelo Figus (Treasurer), Ex-Miss-Yokohama Debbie Cordeiro (new as Actuary/Marketing) and Denis Wolf (new as Assessor).
The main sponsor and tire supplier continues to be Yokohama Switzerland.
