Marcel Steiner: Second place with handicap
HILL CLIMB RACE ST. AGATHA (A) At the last round of the FIA Hill Climb Cup Marcel Steiner finished second overall in the rain. Despite a lack of top speed compared to day winner Patrik Zajelsnik, his gap remained small. The Esthofen-St. Agatha Hill Climb was part of the Austrian Championship and was the final round of the 2018 FIA International Hill Climb Cup. As Ronnie Bratschi was already [...]
The Esthofen-St. Agatha hill climb was part of the Austrian championship and marked the end of the 2018 FIA International Hill Climb Cup. As Ronnie Bratschi was already the overall winner of category 3 (Group E1), the man from Uri did not travel there.
With Marcel Steiner in the LobArt-Mugen and Robin Faustini in the Reynard-Mugen K01, Switzerland was well represented in the top group in St. Agatha. The Swiss champion drove the best practice time on Saturday on the 3200-meter long and fast track in the dry, Faustini was seventh fastest.
Race day rain
After all races of the Swiss Mountain Championship had been held in sunshine, they had to adjust to rainy weather on race day in Austria. In the first race, only German-Slovenian Patrik Zajelsnik was 23 hundredths faster than Steiner. Christoph Lampert, third at Oberhallau and Gurnigel 2018, already lost almost two seconds in his Osella FA30 in pouring rain (the sports cars had less wet before an interruption).
Shortly before the second run, the rain stopped and the sun winked through. Nevertheless, everyone decided to use rain tires again.
This time, Zajelsnik was only 33 thousandths faster. His Mugen V8 engine in the rear of the Norma M20 FC seems to be clearly superior to the engine of the same origin from Steiner and other competitors with three-liter engines.
Marcel Steiner: "What amazed me a lot was the indirect comparison of engine performance: A radar measured the maximum speed reached on the track in the finish area. I drove 248 km/h, Zajelsnik 265 km/h, Dusan Neveril 246 km/h and Lampert 251 km/h. Thoughts about the difference can be made by everyone himself..."
Despite this handicap, the Swiss lost in the addition only by 26 hundredths.
Marcel Steiner: "It's a shame that I was so close behind twice. I thought I could still sweep the thing in the second run on a drying track. Zajelsnik certainly drives very well too, but his engine seems a bit overpowering to us and other opponents. That's led to discussions in other races."
Premiere for Robin Faustini
A rain race was a first for Robin Faustini, who finished seventh overall.
Robin Faustini: "I wanted to leave everything whole in the last race. For the first time in the rain and on this track I am very satisfied. It was good practice for next season. Now I know how the Reynard K01 rides in the wet."
Class win for Joel Burgermeister
It was a similar story for Joel Burgermeister, who took no risks with his TracKing RC01 in the difficult conditions. Nevertheless, he managed to beat two opponents in the E2-SH-2000 class.
René Ruch also had to start in the E2 silhouette group with his Ferrari 355GT according to FIA regulations. As second in the six-car class over two liters, the Bernese also managed a good end to the season.
