Martin Bürki is slalom champion again
SWISS SPORT In Romont, Martin Bürki in a VW Polo closed the bag in the Swiss Slalom Championship. The day's victory went to Philip Egli in a Dallara F3. The final decisions will be made on Sunday in Ambri. Same course, different name: In summer it is called Slalom Romont, in autumn Slalom Drognens, which is also the name of the armory. Two [...]
Same course, different name: in summer it's called Slalom Romont, in fall Slalom Drognens, which is also the name of the weapons range. Two hit the bull's-eye there with their mobile projectiles.
Philip Egli won the duel in the Formula 3 Dallara with Jean-Marc Salomon in the Tatuus Formula Master thanks to an improvement in the second run. "I had to put in a fast and clean second run, because with Jean-Marc you never know how fast he really is until the very end," said a delighted Egli about his third victory in the ninth SM slalom of 2017.
The other bull's eye was achieved by Martin Bürki. Although he no longer had to win, the soon-to-be 50-year-old from Berne gave his all between the gates and, unlike Egli, skied a few hundredths faster than in June.
With the only touring car time under 2:04, Bürki secured fifth place overall behind four race cars in the 250-hp VW Polo, the ninth class win and the fifth slalom title. It doesn't get any better than that.
As he had feared, Albin Mächler in a BMW M2 had to admit defeat in the E1 class over three liters to the Frenchman Arnaud Murcia in a Mitsubishi Evo. Mächler's chances of achieving the second or third SM place he was aiming for nevertheless remain intact.
This is due to the fact that Daniel Wittwer, who had previously been in second place, has decided not to compete in the last slalom after his brother was killed in an accident in Oberhallau. After the engine failure at Gurnigel, Marcel Maurer, the day's winner in June, was also absent.
Mächler passed Wittwer and Maurer to move up to second intermediate place. In Ticino, the other polo player from Bern is challenging him for this position. In the absence of the otherwise strongest opponents, Stephan Burri had practically free rein in the InterSwiss group up to 1600, which will also be the case on Sunday in Ambri.
Since Egli could also finish second or third with another victory and mistakes by Mächler and Burri, which is rather unlikely, there is still some suspense in the championship despite Bürki's dominance.
