Motorsport: Fred Yerly strengthens Toyota Swiss Racing
TOURING CAR The Toyota Swiss Racing Team defends its championship title in the TMG GT86 Cup at the Nürburgring with a different line-up. Manuel Amweg's new partner will be his equally fast brother-in-law Frédéric Yerly. With five wins and four second places, the Toyota Swiss Racing Team deservedly captured the [...]
With five victories and four second places, the Toyota Swiss Racing Team with Manuel Amweg and Thomas Lampert deservedly captured the championship title in the TMG GT86 Cup last year. The one-make cup for the near-series sports coupes, which is run by Toyota Motorsport GmbH in Cologne, takes place entirely within the framework of the VLN Championship at the Nürburgring.
In the 2017 VLN season, which starts on March 25, the Swiss Toyota team will appear with a new line-up. Instead of the Liechtenstein driver, Frédéric Yerly will be Manuel Amweg's new partner. The two regular drivers for the 2017 season are not only well known, but also related to each other: Yerly is the husband of Manuel's sister Sabine Amweg. With her, Fred contested sporadic VLN events in a Renault Clio, but his concentration for the last three years has been on GT3 racing in the team of Bruno and Edwin Stucky in French endurance races. With the Freiburg brothers competing solo in the DMV GTC series in 2017 in their Dodge Viper, their previous showpiece Yerly found himself without a cockpit. Instead of over 500 hp, the son-in-law of legendary mountain king Fredy Amweg is now on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife with around 220 hp on nine VLN weekends.
"Thomas has developed very well as a driver, but with Frédéric we should be a bit faster in the future," says team boss Roland Baumann, looking forward to the new season. And he recalls, "Fred was the first driver to go under 10 minutes in the GT86 in a previous outing. For him, this car and this program suits him after he can no longer drive at the Stucky."
Driving speed could well be the deciding factor among the individual competitors in 2017. According to the new regulations, each team must complete at least three pit stops in the 4-hour races, plus there is a minimum stop time. In addition, the team on pole position will receive two extra points. It's quite possible that these will be the deciding factor at the end of the season, not least thanks to Frédéric Yerly.
