Critérium: Hunt for the local hero 🎥

https://www.facebook.com/Andersonlevratti/videos/2335171263427810/

The short video shows Michaël Burri with co Anderson Levratti in action at the Rally Pays du Gier in March. At the opening round of the Swiss Rally Championship, the Bernjurassian and the Frenchman had to settle for third place behind Ivan Ballinari and Greg Hotz.

At the Critérium Jurassien, the roles will be distributed differently. In his region, Burri, who won for the first time last year, is considered the favorite, while the champion from Ticino (who has never won in the Jura) and Garagier from Val de Travers (winner in 1999, 2007, 2008 and 2015), who returned with a strong performance after an absence of almost three years in France, are the challengers.

Michaël Burri: "I expect a tough three-way battle. But our goal is clear: We want to repeat last year's victory. We prepared well at the Pays du Gier and gained a lot of confidence in the car."

Return of Nicolas Althaus and Ruedi Schmidlin
Although he also knows this terrain very well, Nicolas Althaus, in his only start for the time being with another Skoda Fabia R5, is unlikely to have a say in the victory under normal circumstances. It is not easy to compensate for the lack of driving experience with an R5 touring car with routine and track knowledge. However, he is certainly good for the podium if one of the trio that dominated at the start of the season stumbles on an SS.

His nephew Cédric Althaus is also taking part for the first time this year in a Peugeot 208 T16 R5. Apparently with a different top car, he says on Facebook, he then wants to make a big splash at the Chablais and Valais - let's be surprised.

Steeves Schneeberger, Joël Rappaz and Jean-Marc Salomon as the second local hero are the other R5 drivers at the start of the 42nd Critérium Jurassien. It is also almost a home game for Ruedi Schmidlin and Erich Götte from Basel, who primarily want to have fun with their Ford Fiesta S2000 and aim for a place in the top ten.

Jura against Valais in the Junior-SM
In the Rallye-SM Junior, four of the six registered R2 drivers come from the Jura. Jonathan Michellod from the Valais leads the standings after winning the Pays du Gier. Nowhere else is there a greater chance for Sacha Althaus, who lives in Moutier, to have himself celebrated as a winner for once after finishing second at the season opener.

In the Clio R3T Alps Trophy, victory also goes to Gier winner Styve Juif. The Frenchman lives not far from the Villars-Réclère cross-border special stage and therefore knows the Jura tracks very well.

Comeback of Erwin Keller in the VHC Group
65 teams are registered with modern vehicles and no less than 15 with historic and youngtimers in the VHC group. At the Pays du Gier, Marc Valliccioni, a native of the Valais, was in a class of his own in a BMW M3.

After years of absence from the race track (but often as a helper for Swiss-German drivers), former top driver Erwin Keller returns to the action in the "Historics" on a BMW M3. In 1992, the driver from the Zurich Oberland won the Critérium Jurassien on a Mitsubishi Galant VR4 ahead of Nicolas Althaus. Let's see what else he can do...

Good spectator points
The rally center is located in Saignelégier. The first two special stages will take place on Friday evening. SS2, which starts at 19:46 (VHC), runs through the middle of Saint-Ursanne. Jo Michellod's onboard video from 2018 shows the drive over the Col de la Croix down into the famous Jura racing town.

https://www.facebook.com/championnatsuisserallyejunior/videos/426170414820333

On Saturday, eight more SS, some of which will be driven several times, are on the program. The SS8 and SS10 St-Brais-La Combe (start VHC at 15:33 and 19:04) with the passage through Saulcy is easy to reach for spectators. Finish is in the evening shortly before 20 o'clock after the Super-SP in Saignelégier.

Ahead of the official field, the Slowly Sideways troop will be driving many partly original earlier rally cars or replicas. So it is worth to be there early.

criterium-jurassien.ch/programs.asp