Massongex: The Valais low-flyer
BERGUERAND UNBEATABLE Eric Berguerand also won the third Swiss hill climb in a new record time. Ronnie Bratschi was equally impressive in announcing his title ambitions in the touring car category at the Massongex hill climb. Although rain was forecast at times for the afternoon race day, it remained dry except for a few drops. That the first race run on Sunday morning still took place on a drying track [...]
Although rain was forecast at times for the race day in the afternoon, it remained dry except for a few drops. The fact that the first race run on Sunday morning still took place on a drying track was hardly noticeable in the times. Rather, the increasingly deteriorating road from Massongex to Vérossaz, about which even the later winner of the day complained. Nevertheless, this did not prevent Eric Berguerand from punching a new record time into the 3150-meter track.
Duel with unequal spits
The duel between him and Marcel Steiner was already decided after two runs. With two 1'45 times, the local hero was already 3.5 seconds ahead of the man from Berne. His handicap with the heavy LobArt-Mugen sports car is becoming more and more obvious, although Steiner never seeks this as an excuse. Watching both competitors in fast passages, however, gives you goose bumps. Berguerand's Lola-Cosworth with F1 aerodynamics comes across as a precisely controllable low-flyer, while Steiner's sparking sports car seems restless. There's no question that both are pushing the limits.
Berguerand's flair for records
For Berguerand, this led to another fantastic time in the third run under cloudy skies. With 1'43.714, he beat Steiner's record mark from 2012, set with the Osella FA30, by seven tenths. For Berguerand, the eighth day's victory in Massongex (in 2002 it was his very first national victory ever) and the fifth in a row with a track record, if you add Gurnigel and Les Paccots 2018. Steiner now only has the record in Oberhallau left (also from 2012 with the Osella), which should fall at the end of August if the weather is good.
Eric Berguerand: "Everything is working really well now. I felt in the third run after the first few meters that there was still something in it - so I tried as usual and made fewer small mistakes than before. This time was a nice surprise."
Steiner's skins are swimming away
Even though Berguerand now clearly leads the championship with a maximum of 81 points ahead of Steiner with 60, theoretically nothing has been decided yet. But the chances of the defending champion are dwindling, especially as Berguerand's second home race follows on July 28, where Joël Volluz will also enter the title fight for the first time in the Osella.
Faustini third according to plan
Things went exactly according to plan for Robin Faustini. At his first start on this steep track with its tight corners in the second part, the 21-year-old from Aargau found the right recipe between attack and defense. His third time in 1'52.666 is respectable for an original Reynard Formula Nippon without aerodynamic frills, with H-shift and four race old tires and the third overall place is therefore deserved. Faustini then wants to take his maturity test with new tires in Anzère.
By the time of his home race, Joël Grand also hopes to have solved the problems on the Tatuus-Honda FM to such an extent that he can seriously challenge brand colleague Christian Balmer. In Massongex, in the absence of Marcel Maurer (engine failure in Hemberg), the man from Berne thus drove to an undisputed fourth place overall as the fastest two-liter driver, although he has already been faster on this track.
Bratschi on the chase
Ronnie Bratschi, on the other hand, was faster than ever before, finishing fifth overall ahead of the second-fastest sports car driver Michel Zemp in the Norma-Honda 2.0. This time, neither the technology as in Hemberg, nor a driving error as in Reitnau put a spoke in his wheel. In the absence of two-time season winner Roger Schnellmann, the man from Uri put himself under pressure by setting himself the goal of improving his own E1 record.
In the second run he undercut him by more than eight tenths and thus has 27 points credited to him, which catapult him with now 47 points to the third SM intermediate rank behind Andy Feigenwinter (54), who was also absent, and Schnellmann (50).
Ronnie Bratschi: "I had to come up with something here. If Andy continues to achieve such super times in the Super Series, it will otherwise be difficult to catch up with him, even if he might only get half points once or twice because he has too few opponents. Everything worked perfectly. I saved the new tires for Anzère, though..."
Bürki back at the top of the table
Like Bratschi, Thomas Kessler completed only two runs in his Mitsubishi Evo VIII, but this was enough for second place ahead of Bruno Ianniello in the Lancia Delta S4. In between, Gérard Nicolas in his Ford Escort Cosworth WRC was the winner of Group IS.
Among the winners of the day is also Martin Bürki, who with his superior victory in the E1-1600 in the Berg Cup has found the connection to the leading group and thus already made up for the absence in Hemberg. Of the touring cars up to two liters, Jonas Magnin in the Honda Civic FD was only faster than Bürki in the addition, because the latter with fuel pressure problems (pump defective) in the second race just still rolled to the finish and waived the third race.
gvi-timing.ch/documents/pdf/2019/massongex/Scratch%20NAT.pdf
