Hill climb: New Challenge for Frédéric Neff
TITLE HUNTING IN A TURBO-PORSCHE The two-time Swiss mountain champion has used the long forced break to realize a new project. From 2022, Frédéric Neff will be chasing times in a powerful Porsche GT2.
Frédéric Neff secretly embarked on this ambitious project three years ago. Now the 48-year-old from Bernjurassier in Moutier is letting the cat out of the bag via AutoSprintCH.
Performance in abundance
The Swiss touring car mountain champion of 2017 and 2018 presents a newly built 997 GT2 R Porsche. Installed in the rear is a turbo engine prepared by Eggenberger Motorenbau in Lyss. Exact performance data can only be guessed at as it has not yet been determined on the engine test bench.
It is quite possible that Neff will keep it to himself afterwards, as Ronnie Bratschi does when asked about the Egmo power in his Mitsubishi. Depending on the boost pressure, between 650 and 900 hp are possible. Austrian Herbert Pregartner always claimed 911 hp for his comparable 911 GT2 RSR.
Still in Group IS
This is not the only thing that matters, as with all high-performance production and racing vehicles, it is primarily their drivability. The new engine is therefore accompanied by engine electronics developed by Egmo, traction control and a sequential racing gearbox.
Neff will therefore be driving in Group IS (InterSwiss), in which he was never beaten in the three years before the pandemic with the Porsche 996 Cup with naturally aspirated engine. He also holds the IS records on five Swiss hillclimb circuits (Gurnigel, Hemberg, Paccots, Reitnau and Le Rangiers).
First starts abroad
To acclimatize to the new racing car, Neff will start in the spring at the Abreschviller hill climb in France and Eschdorf in Luxembourg.
Frédéric Neff: "I hope, but don't believe, that all the technology will work perfectly right from the start. That's why these start-ups make sense before I go to Hemberg. Especially as we also have a lot of setting options in terms of boost pressure, traction control and driving mode, which we first have to optimize with the help of Egmo."
Please do not expect too much straight away
Neff is therefore deliberately not making any predictions. After all, two years off, during which he only kept himself going by karting, will not leave him unscathed. Especially as he now has a different caliber in his hands than before.
Frédéric Neff: "I now have a lot more horsepower and twice the torque at my disposal. Everything will come at me much faster than ever before. I've always taken a certain amount of risk in the past, but I also need a certain amount of time to get used to so much power, which I only have to master with rear-wheel drive."
Third SM title in sight
For this reason, the potential successor to the last mountain champion Andy Feigenwinter (who will not be defending the title he won in a Lotus Exige) is not putting himself under any pressure. Although his long-term goal is to win a third mountain championship title - if it doesn't work out in 2022, it will be 2023 or later.
Frédéric Neff: "The important thing is that I get to ride often. The times come naturally, and so do the results. A championship title always involves work and practice."
