Bratschi: Deserved first FIA season victory

Abreschviller (F), Eschdorf (L), Bieszczadzki (PL), Jahodná (SVK) and Verzegnis (I) - Ronnie Bratschi has spent the past few weeks traveling through half of Europe with his trailer and the new Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII inside.

The man from Uri only took part in the first two races of the FIA International Hill Climb Cup in Poland and Slovakia, otherwise he returned to Altdorf - to work as an employed polymechanic and in his spare time to repair and further develop his E1 touring car. His father Walter, himself technically adept, helped out wherever he could.

Problems with the alternator being too weak
The immense amount of time spent was worth it. In Poland, Bratschi was slowed down by an alternator that was too weak for the Egmo engine, which had been boosted to over 700 hp. Second place in Group E1, in which the FIA championship is at stake, and third place overall was therefore more than just damage limitation.

From Zaluz, the route went straight to Košice on a hill climb course that, like the one in Poland the week before, was more suited to the open-top rally cars of the Eastern Europeans.

Although a drop in voltage again caused a loss of power, Bratschi was able to secure third place in E1 behind the Slovakian Veroslav Cvrcek, who had already won in Poland, and his compatriot Igor Drotar in their powerful Skoda Fabia and ahead of all other opponents.

Ronnie Bratschi: "I was happy to make it to the finish at all. It wasn't just the alternator that was the problem, but also the fact that the car's suspension travel was too short for these tracks. In Poland, one section was so fast that I had to take my foot off the gas to avoid risking engine damage."

It was important for the man from central Switzerland to stay ahead of Nikolay Zlatkov in an Audi Quattro S1 and Karel Trneny in another Skoda Fabia WRC, who were also fighting for the FIA Cup. For his part, the Bulgarian helped to obtain a more powerful alternator from Magneti Marelli for the third round of the championship in Italy.

Third victory in Verzegnis
At the 49th edition of the Verzegnis-Sella Chianzutan hill climb in Friuli, the Slovaks were absent, but the strongest Italians and Austrians came with their E1 bombers. Bratschi had them all under control, although course record holder Karl Schagerl (A) had to load up his VW Golf Rallye on Saturday after four-wheel drive and engine problems.

If it hadn't been for electrical problems with the fuel pump causing the car to drop out in the final sector of the 5.64 km route, the only Swiss driver at the start of the 280 competitors from ten nations (including 70 historic cars) would have had more than a group win ahead of Mauro Soretti in a Subaru Impreza, Trneny and Zlatkov.

The fastest times for a racing car with a roof were set by the Italian Manuel Dondi in an infernal and superbly piloted Fiat X 1/9 with an Alfa Romeo STW engine from the Group E2 silhouette.

Ronnie Bratschi: "In the second, faster run, I lost a good three seconds on my best sector time in practice in the upper part of the track alone. If the car had been running perfectly, I would easily have set a record time. I would have stayed ahead of Dondi in the Fiat, which only weighs 600 kg."

The day's victory in a new record time went to Christian Merli on the Osella FA30 Evo, who has also held the record in the Swiss European Championship race since 2017.

Starts in Hemberg and Reitnau
The third consecutive victory in Verzegnis is also the third in the current season after Abreschviller and Eschdorf with the Mitsubishi, which was rebuilt after the accident in Hemberg in 2017. This takes him to the top of the FIA IHCC standings. Winning this for a third time after 2015 and 2016 is his declared goal.

For the sake of his sponsor Hans Schori from Event Seelisberg and the Swiss fans, Bratschi will be competing in the first two popular national hill climb races in Hemberg (June 10) and Reitnau (July 1). In between, the fourth FIA round in Slovenia is on the program.

How close will the 32-year-old from Uri come to Reto Meisel's Swiss E1 record times? Perhaps even lower? We will soon have the eagerly awaited answer to these questions.

Defect witch doesn't let Reto Meisel down
PS: Meisel himself recently competed in the two consecutive European Championship races in Portugal (Falperra) and Spain (Fito), now in the E2-SH group. On both occasions, the poor man retired due to technical defects in the SLK340, which had been repaired after the vehicle fire in Oberhallau.

For him, the other trips to the Iberian peninsula were not worth it, at least not in sporting terms.

verzegnis.net

fia.com