Bergrennen Hemberg: Eric Berguerand remains boss in the ring

Almost three years to the day after the last event in 2019, Hemberg last weekend marked the start of the Swiss Mountain Championship 2022. 8,000 fans did not miss the first race of the post-Corona era. And they got their money's worth thanks to Eric Berguerand & Co.

Enthusiasm for the brute Lola FA99
The Valais native has not competed in a race since September 15, 2019. Back then - in Les Paccots - he left the field as the clear winner with a lead of more than six seconds over Robin Faustini. 1000 days later, it was Eric Berguerand again who thrilled the fans with his brute Lola FA99.

But this time the margin of the garage owner from Martigny was smaller. Berguerand was just 1.12 seconds faster in the addition of the two best runs. And yet he left no doubt at the season opener as to who is (still) the boss in the ring.

Second final place for Robin Faustini on Osella
Robin Faustini (center gallery) was actually satisfied with his performance after three runs and second final place. The 53.13 sec, which the Aargauer burned into the asphalt, were not from bad parents. This meant that he was the same as Marcel Steiner in 2019 to a hundredth of a second.

Third-placed Steiner on his LobArt Honda also didn't quite know whether to be happy or angry.

Marcel Steinner: "After all the problems we had, we can be satisfied with what we achieved. The new turbo engine didn't give us the decisive advantage on this track. We knew that in advance. But we're on a good track."

Thomas Amweg with father's car without luck
Thomas Amweg had no chance to intervene in the fight for the top 3. The 2019 Gurnigel winner had to make do with his father Fredy's ex-Lola F3000 because his new work machine, the Reynard 95D, is not yet ready for action: Amweg saved 14 hundredths of a second in the addition of the two best runs on perennial contender Philip Egli. In his Dallara F393, Egli had the 2-liter formula race car class under control and was even seven hundredths of a second faster than Amweg in the first run. Second behind Egli in the 2-liter class was Joël Burgermeister - 0.21 sec behind Egli.

Powerful performance with a motorcycle engine
Joël Grand also put in a strong performance in his Osella PA21. The Valais native finished seventh in the final standings. And that with a 999 cm3 motorcycle engine. Grand was even faster than Michel Zemp, who had a good first run in his 2-liter Norma, but then had technical problems and was without a chance against Grand & Co.

Reto Meisel showed again all his power
The best touring car driver was Reto Meisel (left gallery). At this point we would like to apologize for an unfortunate preview. The author of these lines has probably not studied the starting list in detail... Sorry, dear Reto!

Nevertheless, the 51-year-old from Leuggern was a force in his Mercedes SLK 340. Meisel's best time (set in the second heat) was one second faster than that of Roger Schnellmann in his Mitsubishi Evo 8. Third in the cars with roofs and thus even faster than the fastest Porsche of Danny Krieg was Romeo Nüssli in his Ford Escort Cosworth.

Denis Wolf won the Renault Clio Classic Cup
In the Interswiss up to 1.6-liter displacement, Martin Bürki (VW Polo) was once again the man of the day. As one of the few, he even managed to improve his time in the last run. Marco Geering (Opel Kadett) won the IS class up to 2 liters in a thrilling duel with Patrick Hedinger (Peugeot 205 GTI).

In the Renault Clio Cup, Denis Wolf won (also in record time, gallery rtechts)( - followed by Philipp Krebs and Michael Schläpfer.

La Roche - La Berra awaits fans and teams
The hillclimbers don't have much time to rest. The second race, La Roche - La Berra, is already scheduled for next weekend. The 3.5-kilometer course in Fribourg is making its comeback this year. La Roche - La Berra was last part of the mountain calendar in 2015 (winner: Joël Volluz on Osella FA30).

It starts on Saturday, June 18, from 7.30 a.m. with training runs. On Sunday, June 19, there will also be another practice run in each category from 7.30 am. The first race run will start at 9.45 am. As in Hemberg, each class will have three runs (if possible). The two fastest times will be added together. Time and location plan are attached.

And so it goes on:

June 18-19, La Roche - La Berra.
Find out more about the La Roche - La Berra hill climb at courselaberra.ch

• July 23 and 24, Ayent - Anzère
• August 19 to 21, St.Ursanne - Les Rangiers
• August 27 and 28, Oberhallau
• 10 and 11 September, Gurnigel

Photos: Christian Eichenberger
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