Mountain Cup: Bürki and Krebs stay on the ball

Due to the clash of dates with the Romont slalom, Martin Bürki had to forgo participation in Hemberg. It has not hurt the defending champion in the slalom and mountain cup so far. With three convincing class victories in the E1-1600, the man from Berne then moved back to the top of the standings, level on points with two other drivers.

In Reitnau and Massongex, Bürki in the 1600cc Polo was faster than all the two-liters. Only in Anzère was rain specialist Daniel Kammer in the Honda Civic able to exploit the performance advantage. For the Bernese, this was the first national victory in more than two years, when he last won at the slaloms in Saanen and Bure during his sporadic appearances.

Burri also leads two championships
With the exception of Bürki, all the contenders for a top place refrained from starting on the material-destroying Massongex track and thus took their strike result for the first half of the season. Although Stephan Burri will never be able to match Bürki's times in his VW Polo, which is comparable in terms of performance, he also had to overcome strong opponents on the way to his three victories in the IS-1600.

Not undeservedly, Burri also leads the Interswiss Trophy, which he finally wants to win. In the Mountain Cup, it will be difficult in the long-distance duel against the cantonal rival, as the IS-1600 has only four instead of the required five competitors for full points next weekend in the Jura. Should there still be a tie in points towards the end of the season, it is quite possible that Bürki will go head-to-head with Burri at the end in order to secure not only the ready seventh slalom championship title but also the fourth in the mountain cup.

Cancer under pressure
In the end, Philipp Krebs may also be the laughing third. However, he would still have to win all four remaining hill climbs in the Renault Classic Cup. Not impossible, but with Michael Schläpfer he recently faced an opponent in Anzère who had victory in his hands.

First victory for Stephan Moser
The rain race in Valais produced a new winner in the smallest displacement IS class up to 1.4 liters. Stephan Moser in his Toyota Yaris was already 46 hundredths ahead of long-time dominator Stefan Schöpfer in the Audi 50 in Reitnau after his fastest second running time. In Anzère, the man from Düdingen then celebrated his first victory over the man from Entlebuch, moving up to fifth position in the intermediate classification of the Mountain Cup directly behind the latter.

Ochsner does not like the rain
Jürg Ochsner admitted that rain is not his strong point in Anzère after a prayer of encouragement in the direction of the cloudy sky. And promptly the man from Hallau, who had shone in the previous races with best times at the wheel of his Opel Kadett 16V, had to settle for fifth place. If it stays dry in the further races, Ochsner is also a candidate for the IS Trophy. Victory in the IS two-liters was not unexpectedly taken in Valais by Patrick Vallat in the front-wheel-drive VW Golf 16V, with which he is also always fast at the home race in St-Ursanne.

Grand return of René Faiglé
In the E1 two-liters, Danny Krieg in the Audi A4 STW, the 2016 champion car, was in a class of his own in the first two hillclimbs. However, due to time constraints, the man from Schwyz will only drive sporadically in 2019. Both in Hemberg, as well as Reitnau, by the way, Marco Geering would have been the day's winner in the regional field with his times on the Opel Kadett 8V in the Nationals, second place in the E1-2000 - a promise for the future!

René Faiglé, the runner-up in the E1-2000 behind Daniel Kammer, also had plenty to celebrate in the Valais. For the Bernese, it was his first race on his birthday since suffering a heart attack at the Gurnigel hill climb in 2018. As if this and the long recovery time had made him stronger, Faiglé amazed everyone with strong times in the rain in his eye-catching VW Scirocco. An incredible performance, leaving the likes of Massongex winner Jonas Magnin (Honda Civic FD) and Ruedi Fuhrer (Honda CRX F20) just behind.

Beat Rohr lacks opponents
The second sufferer alongside Burri due to the handicap with the class strength is Beat Rohr. Returning to the Audi 50 LMP driven by his father Christoph in 2017 and 2018 after a lengthy break from racing, the Thun native won three times in the E1-1400s.

Only in Reitnau was this also rewarded with a full 20 points, so Rohr jr. is probably out of the title race. Especially since his absence in St-Ursanne was his second zero after Massongex.

The highest of feelings for the Feigenwinters
Raphael Feigenwinter would also have three starts and three victories - his first ever - to show for it. The 24-year-old is amazing in his second season with the Honda Integra driven to championship honors by Giuliano Piccinato in 2017. In Reitnau and Hemberg, the Therwil native, who was outclassed in the Berg-SM Junior two years ago, was even faster in the SuperSeries up to two liters than Rolf Reding in 2018 with the Toyota GT86.

It's a pity, then, that this once popular entry-level class consists practically only of him and Nicola Fankhauser in a Honda Civic, otherwise he might have been a candidate for the final podium. The fact that his father Andy leads the Swiss mountain championship for touring cars is therefore more than a consolation for the junior. For both of them, standing on the podium of the production car three times together is the highest of feelings anyway.

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