Berg-SM 2021: Return of Burgermeister

Joel Burgermeister hardly likes to wait, but he has to. His Tatuus Formula 4 from Jenzer Motorsport is standing in front of the workshop in Lyss, freshly wrapped in foil. But fans won't get to see the man from Thurgau and his new sports machine in action until next year.

Due to the Corona measures at events, all Swiss mountain races have been canceled for this year. Because there are hardly any other opportunities to start and Burgermeister has not yet obtained a national license anyway, only test drives are planned for the current year so that he can then attack in 2021 fully prepared.

Top racing cars in a double pack
Burgermeister's Tatuus is technically practically a replica of Thomas Zürcher's race car, which was also created in collaboration with Jenzer Motorsport and the LRM tuning forge in Italy. They will only differ in the war paint, but hardly much in the running times.

Both have proven with their previous cars that they are among the top drivers in Switzerland. Next year they will meet head-to-head for the first time in the E2 race car class up to two liters displacement.

Struggle at the two-liters is intensified
While the normal Tatuus F4 run with the standard Abarth turbo engines in the 2000 to 2500 cc class, they are allowed to start with the LRM engines reduced to about 1170 cubic capacity in the two-liter class (coefficient 1.7). Unlike the original, their main features are a twin scroll turbo, different exhaust manifolds and different intercoolers.

All components are also optimally positioned to move the center of gravity down. Starting at around 280 hp, up to around 350 hp is possible thereafter.

Struggle at the two-liters is intensified
It's safe to assume that Burgermeister and Zürcher will give each other nothing in the battle for class wins and positions in the overall standings. Their opponents will be people with former Formula Master and Formula 3 race cars.

A healthy rivalry can be expected, which also characterizes Eric Berguerand, Marcel Steiner, Joël Volluz, Thomas Amweg and Robin Faustini with their three-liter race cars in the fight for the day's victories and always ensures great hillclimb racing.

Wait and inform
In the last two years, Joel Burgermeister attended the Swiss races only as a spectator. In 2018, a hopeful project with Pedrazza Motorsport ended after an engine failure on the PRC Honda during testing before it had really begun. And the TracKing had been sold to Helmi Motorsport by the now 29-year-old car mechanic from Egnach.

Therefore, the ambitious motor sportsman only competed with colleagues in ice races in Austria and learned during winter training with Uwe Nittel in Finland.

Joel Burgermeister: "So I just looked at what was coming up and what the competition was doing. At first, I had my eye on a Formula Master, before Andreas Jenzer advised me to buy a Tatuus F4 one day. I always wanted a car that was competitive. Winning is only possible with minimum weight and lots of power."

Potential winning car
The new little rocket does both. The larger front and wings come from modern Formula 3 race cars, and the tire width is still original F4. If the power of the LRM engine cannot be brought to the ground with these, wider tires à la the former Formula 2 would be an option.

However, the racing car newcomer does not yet want to think that far ahead. He will complete the test drives sometime this summer with a production Abarth engine leased from Jenzer in the rear. The high-revving LRM engine, which is still under construction in Italy, will not arrive until 2021 in order to conserve materials and the budget.

Joel Burgermeister: "First I have to see how the car works and how we harmonize. The LRM engine would be too bad for that. It's enough if I get used to it next spring before the first hill climbs. I'm happy to have my head outside again like in karting - I've been missing that. Also wonders me how the whole thing comes out..."

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