Anzère: Two fantastic new record holders
WINS FOR BERGUERAND AND BRATSCHI With his Lola finally running perfectly, Eric Berguerand took a day's victory in record time at the Ayent-Anzère hill climb. Ronnie Bratschi also achieved a fabulous record in the touring cars despite an accident. Because Marcel Steiner had to fall back on his old Martini BMW sports car, Eric Berguerand had no equal in Anzère. The local hero let himself [...]
Because Marcel Steiner had to fall back on his old Martini BMW sports car, Eric Berguerand had no equal in Anzère. However, the local hero did not let himself be left behind and showed himself in brilliant form with the Lola-Cosworth that was finally running perfectly.
With rain only affecting the action later on Saturday afternoon, conditions were ideal in Sunday's three race heats. After missing the previous track record set by Joël Volluz in the 2015 Osella FA30 by just two tenths in the first heat, he improved it from 1'28.096 to 1'27.851 with a set of new race tires in the early afternoon sunshine.
Formula 1 aerodynamics show effect
But that was not all. Shortly after 6 p.m., the pilot from Valais was the last to start the third run on the 3500-long and partly newly asphalted track. This time the clock even stopped at 1'26.992, which corresponds to an average of 144.8 km/h.
A front spoiler from Force India F1, the new flat underbody designed by Berguerand himself and the more powerful race engine did not fail to have an effect. Berguerand was correspondingly happy after his fifth win of the day on his home track.
Eric Berguerand: "For me, the 2018 racing season has only really begun here. It's a completely new driving experience. This engine really pushes, and the aerodynamics now fit as well. That's the reward for all the hours of work. It's even faster. The car is not yet the way I want it, but we've made nice progress. After Marcel snatched my records away from me in Hemberg and Reitnau, I'm pleased that I've now been able to strike back in the same way here."
The optimum for Marcel Steiner
Steiner himself also put in a remarkable performance in the Martini MK77, a former 1997 CN sports car. The defending champion felt at home straight away and went a good five seconds faster in the race than in his last Anzère appearance with this car in 2010.
With two 1'32 times, the defending champion secured second place overall. With the more modern LobArt-Mugen, he would certainly have been faster, but perhaps not better placed. In 2017 he clocked 1'29.5 with it - so a significant improvement would have been necessary from him as well...
Marcel Steiner: "It was a real pleasure to drive the Martini again. This car is also easier to drive than the LobArt, but with a good 100 hp less it lacks the puff. The weekend was ideal, I did my best and scored further valuable points for the championship."
After the halfway point of the season (4 out of 8 races), the Bernese is clearly in the lead with 74 points ahead of Christian Balmer (62), Marcel Maurer (61) and Eric Berguerand (47).
Progress with Robin Faustini
Third place overall deservedly went to Robin Faustini. The 20-year-old from Aargau showed his best race so far with the newly acquired Reynard K01. With 1'33.357 he achieved a personal best time in the morning run that he himself had not yet thought possible.
Undercut in return was Thomas Amweg, who in his best race run in the morning was less than a second faster than in 2016 with the Dallara-Mercedes F3. Somewhere in the Lola F3000 there's a worm that causes the engine to stutter in hairpins and almost drives his team to despair.
In addition, Thomas is currently in such poor health that he has to seek medical attention. The F3000 chapter is over for him at the moment, he will definitely not start in St-Ursanne, and probably not in the following races either.
Philip Egli just above the Formula 2 records
The brilliant winner in the two-liter race car class was Philip Egli in the now formless Dallara-Opel EPR-1. His three 1'35 times, which are only less than a second above the former Formula 2 records of the mountain specialists Murisier and Sourd, were enough for fourth place overall.
Massongex day winner Marcel Maurer was also satisfied with second class place in the Formula Renault Midland. After all, he gave Joël Grand, who first has to get used to the new and not yet perfectly tuned car, and Christian Balmer, who loves the resort of Anzère more than the race track, second place in their Tatuus-Honda F-Master.
Undaunted Ronnie Bratschi
The outstanding man in the touring cars was Ronnie Bratschi. The man from Uri showed not only great driving skills, but also unheard-of courage and determination.
In the first race run, he touched the guard rails with the right front car so violently that the body parts flew off. The fact that the piston rod in the shock absorber was also bent in the process was only revealed by the postmortem examination of the damage.
Nevertheless, Bratschi achieved the second-fastest touring car time behind Roger Schnellmann with 1'40.059. Last year's winner also set a personal best with his Mitsubishi monster in 1'39.073.
During the lunch break, Bratschi's crew managed to get the Mitsubishi ready enough for him to complete at least a second run. Despite a broken front frame and a spoiler hanging off, he improved Reto Meisel's 2017 record by 1.3 seconds to an incredible 1'36.843.
With the permission of the jury, the SM leader did not have to start again for the third run. Schnellmann only managed a 1'39 time. With a gap of almost 1.5 seconds, the man from Schwyz clearly had to admit defeat in the addition of the two faster runs. Third place went to Thomas Kessler in another Mitsubishi Evo VIII.
Ianniello's IS record remains intact
In the Interswiss group, only nine tenths separated Frédéric Neff from Gérard Nicolas in the Ford Escort WRC after two runs. In the end, however, the champion clearly retained the upper hand in his Porsche 996 GT3-R. However, the super record of the absent Bruno Ianniello in the Lancia Delta S4 from 2001 was never in danger.
With his third record in four races, Bratschi leads the mountain championship of the touring cars with 98 points ahead of Andy Feigenwinter in the Lotus Exige, who won the SuperSeries without any competition, with 87.5 points and Neff with 79 points.
After a four-week break, the championship continues on August 18/19 with the St-Ursanne-Les Rangiers round of the European Championship. Since Eric Berguerand will never start there again since his horror crash in 2007, Marcel Steiner will then be the lone favorite again.
