Critérium: First victory for Michaël Burri
A GREAT DUEL IN THE JURA Ivan Ballinari and local hero Michaël Burri fought the expected duel at the Critérium Jurassien. In the end, Burri celebrated his first overall victory, while "Bally" extended his lead in the Swiss Rally Championship. If not here, then where? This is what both Michäel Burri and Nicolas Althaus asked themselves. For the two Bernjurassians, the [...]
If not here, then where? This is what both Michäel Burri and Nicolas Althaus asked themselves. The Critérium Jurassien, which starts and finishes in Saignelégier, was more or less a home race for the two Bernjurassians and also their only planned race for a long time. Therefore, they both wanted to win here and put Ivan Ballinari in his place.
With two best times on the first two stages on Friday evening, Burri actually put a 13.3 second cushion between himself and the Ticino rider. On Saturday, "Bally" turned the tables with four fastest times, although Burri remained close behind him.
Two different races
After seven of the eleven stages, the gap was only nine seconds. After SS8 and the final neutralization, it grew again to 13.4 seconds. For the winner of "Pays du Gier" in March, the race was basically over.
Ivan Ballinari: "Burri is riding really well here. But we're racing in two different races here. He really wants to win here, but I have the championship in mind."
In the penultimate SS, Burri then made everything clear with a clear best time, so that the places were taken. Only on the final short spectator circuit in Saignelégier did the superior duo concede first place to Mike Coppens from Valais.
First overall victory for Michaël Burri
After his father Olivier Burri, who owns the Skoda Fabia R5, won the Critérium a total of six times between 1990 and 2013 (more times than anyone else), Michäel Burri has now achieved his first victory with Frenchman Anderson Levratti at his side.
Burri Jr. was the best Swiss driver at the 2017 Rallye du Valais in third place, and now he also has his first overall victory in a round of the Swiss Rally Championship to his name. For family and financial reasons (wedding in May), Burri will not compete again until the finale in Valais - unless he changes his plans again at short notice...
Nicolas Althaus took third place overall virtually unchallenged, giving the Skoda brand a one-two-three in its first triumph on Swiss soil. At his first and probably only start in the long term (money and time are needed for junior Sacha Althaus' R2 entries), Althaus was unable to make up for his experience at the Critérium (winner in 2011 and 2012) due to a lack of driving experience with the R5 car.
Swiss-German duel for the S2000 victory
The battle for fourth place overall was also exciting. It was first occupied by Steeves Schneeberger, who got off to a good start, before Cédric Althaus (both Ford Fiesta R5) and Mike Coppens (Skoda) really turned up the heat on the final loop. Nicolas' nephew Cédric saved 4th place by 1.8 seconds from Coppens and 17.4 seconds from Schneeberger.
Daniel Sieber, Ruedi Schmidlin and Joël Rappaz also had a great three-way battle in the 2000 class. Sieber, on his return, led from the start in his first start with such an agile car, which he was clearly enjoying. However, Ruedi Schmidlin, who had never driven co-driver Erich Götte's Ford Fiesta S2000 since Valais 2016, was not to be shaken off and even managed to set a fastest time (plus another ex-aequo).
In the end, the man from Zurich and co-driver Katja Totschnig won by 1'10 minutes ahead of the two rally veterans from Reinach BL. Joël Rappaz, on the other hand, was unable to shine and retired after spinning on SS6 and 7. At his home race, the Rallye du Chablais on June 1-2, the Vaud native will be competing in a Ford Fiesta R5 from Balbosca.
Failure of Thomas Schmid
In the Junior-SM, Jonathan Michellod set the tone right from the start. Thomas Schmid, again with Cornel Frigoli as co-driver, stayed hot on his heels until the engine of the Peugeot 208 R2 gave up the ghost. It is now uncertain whether the Gier winner from St. Gallen will continue the rally season. Second place then went to Sacha Althaus in only his second R2 outing.
Defending champion Ismaël Vuistiner won the Clio R3T Alps Trophy ahead of Frenchman Olivier Courtois and newcomer Nicolas Lathion, the 2017 Junior Champion. Greed winner Styve Juif (F) paid for his attack on Vuistiner with an accident in SS5.
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