Bas-Monsieur: Rappaz rocks the hill
MINI-BERGSLALOM "Bas-Monsieur" is one of the smallest races, but popular among some drivers and spectators. The winners were Jonathan Hirschi and Joël Rappaz, two well-known names. A video of Mattia Stacchi in a BMW M3 last year shows what the short race track near La-Chaux-de-Fonds looks like from a driver's point of view. Long tradition The "Course Automobile [...]
What the short race track near La-Chaux-de-Fonds looks like from a driver's perspective is shown in a video of Mattia Stacchi in a BMW M3 last year.
Long tradition
The "Course Automobile du Bas-Monsieur" at the gates of La-Chaux-de-Fonds is not a race like many others. The length of the track, which leads slightly uphill after a long straight, is only 930 meters and features three curves. Jokingly, "Bas-Monsieur" - the little man's race - is therefore called the World Championship of Three Curves.
Seven slalom gates and three chicanes are positioned to slow the pace. Stacchi covered the course in just under 38 seconds a year ago, taking second place overall. Stacchi was not at the start of the 65th edition of the race, which was organized by Scuderia Taifyn from the canton of Neuchâtel, but other well-known names were at the start, and they were even faster in the beautiful autumn weather.
From VLN race to mountain slalom
The field of participants was divided into vehicles according to LOC regulations and those according to REG and NAT regulations. Of all things, an internationally successful racer decided the LOC classification in his favor.
Jonathan Hirschi, who was on the LMP2 podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2018, arrowed his way best through the gates in a production-based Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X from LOC2. With his best time from the third run, the man from Neuchâtel relegated a Caterham Super Seven and a Ferrari 488 GTB behind him. The day before, Hirschi started in the VLN with the Ferrari 488 GT3 of Octane126, but retired there.
Slalom instead of rally
Only 16 drivers compared to 50 LOC started in the regional field. Joël Rappaz achieved his best time in the private Ford Fiesta R5 already in the first attempt, missing his training best time by nine hundredths. Due to time and financial reasons, the man from Valais does not compete in any rallies with this car at the moment, but enjoys himself in slaloms. A week earlier, Rappaz won the SM final in Ambri ahead of Joe Halter's Mitsubishi in Group A.
The closest to the day's winner were the two E1 drivers Emilio Farinoli and Fabio Crestoni, familiar from national slaloms and hill climbs, with their Lancia Delta HF integrale. Fastest non four-wheelers were Matthieu Wyttenbach on a modern Alpine A110 and Daniel Weyeneth from Basel with his Renault 5 Turbo. In sixth place, Julia Schaffo in the small Jedi race car was the fastest of a total of seven ladies.
BM18_Scratch_REG BM18_Scratch_LOC
