Weekend preview: Full throttle in all classes đ„
THERE'S A LOT going on Next weekend, motor racing really takes off in Europe. Unfortunately, spectators are not allowed anywhere, but almost everything can be followed on television and Internet livestream. Imola will see the premiere of Formula Regional Europa by Alpine with several Swiss drivers in the 33-strong field. Three weeks [...]
In Imola, Formula 1 will see the premiere of Formula Regional Europa by Alpine with several Swiss drivers in the 33-strong Field of participants.
Three weeks after the world championship opener in Bahrain, the Formula 1 squad stops off in Imola. There hasn't been a Formula 1 race at such an early time of year in Europe for eleven years, when the 2008 Spanish GP was also held in April (27th) instead of May as usual.
Live with expert Marc Surer
Imola moved into the calendar of the 2020 season about six months ago belatedly and for the first time since 2006 as the venue of a newly created GP of Emilia Romagna.
Those who want to follow this year's first home race of Alfa Romeo Racing, operated by Sauber Motorsport in Hinwil, will be well served by Swiss television. Michael StÀuble and F1 expert Marc Surer will report live from qualifying on Saturday from 1.55 to 3.15 p.m. on SRF zwei and from the race on Sunday from 2.30 p.m. on SRF info.
Premiere of two united junior formulas
At least on Youtube will be the two half-hour races of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine on Saturday afternoon (17.25 to 17.55) and Sunday (12.20 to 12.50). This new championship emerged from the Formula Renault Eurocup and Formula 3 Regional and will be contested with 270 hp Tatuus F3 race cars.
Grégoire Saucy stood out during the tests, always being among the fastest. The man from the Jura region has already driven such turbo race cars in Formula Renault and the New Zealand Toyota racing series.
For Jasin Ferati and Alex Gnos, who come from Formula 4, such a formula is uncharted territory. It would be the same for LĂ©na BĂŒhler. But she suffered a hand injury in an accident on the first day of testing, which has kept her away from the cockpit ever since and postponed her racing debut.
No snow at the NĂŒrburgring this time
The postponed season opener of the 2021 NĂŒrburgring Endurance Series will take place as early as Saturday after the first race scheduled three weeks ago had to be cancelled due to snow during practice.
In the List of participants there are some Swiss drivers with ambitions. Among them, with start number #25 an Audi R8 LMS with factory driver Patric Niederhauser, with #26 the Ferrari 488 GTE Evo from Octane 126 with Simon Trummer and Jonathan Hirschi and with #333 the VW Golf GTI TCR with Jasmin Preisig, Frédéric Yerly and the Dutch warhorse Tom Coronel.
At Four Motors, Simona de Silvestro pilots a Porsche Cayman GT4 in the alternative fuel class. As announced by AutoSprintCH, the Indy 500 and GT3 driver is thus making her "driving certificate" for the Nordschleife.
Practice (8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.) and racing (12 p.m. to 4 p.m.) can be accessed at this Link can be followed in the livestream.
Emil Frey Racing in the race for the first time with three sports cars
The fact that some GT teams and factory drivers are missing in the Eifel has to do with the clash of dates with the GT World Challenge Europe. The world's strongest GT3 series begins in Monza with the first round of the Endurance Cup.
44 vehicles from nine different manufacturers (List of participants)Â are expected at the start. From a Swiss perspective, the three Lamborghini HuracĂĄn GT3 Evo cars from Emil Frey Racing stand out. With Ricardo Feller, Alex Fontana and Rolf Ineichen, one car from Safenwil features an all-Swiss lineup.
The GT World Challenge Europe 2021 will begin in Monza, which will also feature an Esports race with professional participation.
GT3 race debut of Julien Apothéloz and Miklas Born
In addition to a good place in the overall standings, the Swiss Emil Frey trio is aiming for victory in the Silver Cup. Here, the Mercedes-AMG fielded by youngster Miklas Born and veteran Yannick Mettler, as well as Australian Jordan Love, is one of the Silver opponents. Philip Ellis from Zug is representing the brand with the star for the first time as a contract driver for Winward Racing.
In the Pro-Am Cup, former Am champion Adrian Amstutz (Lamborghini) and Julien Apothéloz (Porsche), who like Born is making his GT3 debut, will meet with their teams. Kessel Racing is also represented in this class with a Ferrari 488.
All practice sessions on Friday, the qualifying sessions on Saturday and the three-hour race starting at 3 p.m. on Sunday can be accessed via this Link can be followed on the GT World Challenge Youtube channel.
The European GT4 Championship also begins in the supporting program (List of participants), there is also the first race of the new GT2 Series (List of participants). Among the twelve teams is the Sportec squad, led for the first time by Marcel FĂ€ssler, with the KTM X-Bow of Adrian Spescha and Christoph Ulrich.
New career chapter for Louis Delétraz
The teams and drivers in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) will also have to prove their endurance in Barcelona on Sunday. The favorites in the field led by LMP2 teams include (List of participants) includes the Belgian WRT Oreca Gibson of Louis Delétraz, ex-GP driver Robert Kubica and Asian champion Yifei Ye from China, who is coached by the Jani family. The Geneva native, who switched from Formula 2 to the ELMS, was immediately the fastest in the tests in Barcelona.
Some teams and drivers use the ELMS as a springboard to the World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans or as a parallel program in preparation for them.
Also running under the Swiss flag are an Oreca LMP2 with Geneva-based Alexandre Coigny, Nicolas Lapierre and Antonin Borga and a Ligier-Nissan LMP3 with Nicolas Maulini.
Two weeks before the start of the World Championship in Spa, team leader Rahel Frey and her partners are getting ready for the racing season in the Iron Lynx Ferrari. This four-hour race can also be viewed in the livestream on Youtube (here the Link) can be viewed.
