Mickhausen: Berguerand ahead of Steiner
SWISS DOUBLE WIN Marcel Steiner seemed to be on his way to the day's victory at the Int. hill climb Mickhausen in southern Bavaria. But as drizzle set in, Eric Berguerand was once again the quicker. Held for the 38th time after a year's break, the Int. ADAC Bergrennen Mickhausen south of Augsburg counted as the final round of the German Automobile Mountain Championship and other national predicates. Because [...]
Held for the 38th time after a year's break, the Int. ADAC Bergrennen Mickhausen south of Augsburg counted as the final round of the German Automobile Mountain Championship and other national predicates. However, because it was no longer a round of the FIA Mountain Cup, as it had been until 2017, there were hardly any foreign drivers on the grid apart from a few Austrians and Swiss.
The third race decided
Marcel Steiner and Eric Berguerand have been welcome guests in Mickhausen for many years and decided the day's victory between themselves. Unlike in the Swiss hillclimb championship, Steiner set the pace in the LobArt sports car already in the wet practice on Saturday, as well as in the first two race runs in cool but dry conditions. His first victory of the season over the hitherto indomitable opponent was in the air. But the third run was to be decisive.
Different tire choice makes the difference
Unlike in Switzerland, in Mickhausen not the two better but all three running times counted for the overall classification. When light drizzle set in, Steiner stayed on slicks, while Berguerand fitted his Lola-Cosworth with treaded tires - apparently quite good ones.
This year's mountain champion turned a 1.7-second deficit into a 1.8-second lead in the overall standings. Steiner had lost a whole 3.5 seconds to Berguerand on the mere 2.2-kilometer course with only 79 meters of elevation gain. Berguerand thus managed another stage win at the end of the season, the first in Mickhausen after several attempts.
Eric Berguerand: "In the second race run of the race cars it was already so wet that I was driving with slicks as if on black ice. I actually wanted to pack up already. But when the race was going so briskly, I mounted the rain tires for the third run for safety reasons. When I heard the times of Marcel and Alex, I knew it was the right choice. I really had fun driving again and so just grabbed the chance."
Steiner a little too restrained
Steiner, who has already been successful three times in the mountain race near the border (most recently in 2017), was once again left with only second place overall and, as a consolation, the sports car victory ahead of the German Alexander Hin in the ex-Hugentobler Osella PA30.
Marcel Steiner: "If I had to, I would opt for slicks again. In my opinion, it was simply not wet enough for rain tires. I just drove up too cautiously. It's a mystery to me how Eric was able to drive so fast on rain tires. He's always a force to be reckoned with."
One victory and many second places
For Steiner, this marks the end of a season that began promisingly at the beginning of May with a stage win in Luxembourg (Eschdorf hill climb). Since then, there have been a number of second places, including in August at the even more competitive hill climb in Osnabrück behind European champion Christian Merli. Where Berguerand would have ended up if he hadn't cancelled at short notice due to his father Louis' accident in Anzère remains a matter of speculation.
Marcel Steiner: "It stinks to go into the winter with a bad run. A win would have been nice. Eric was simply good this year. But he also tried it here for a long time. Three years ago he was leading after two runs, when in the rain Romeo Nüssli was ahead at the end."
Brilliantly disposed Romeo Nüssli
The aforementioned felt in his element again on Sunday. In the damp third race, the Aargauer made full use of the four-wheel drive on his Ford Escort Cosworth. With a time that was almost two seconds better, Nüssli snatched overall touring car victory from Frenchman Nicolas Werver in the Porsche 911 GT2. At the same time, the 2016 stage winner, who expressly loves rain (but too rarely gets it), moved up to fifth place overall.
Respectable successes for three touring car drivers
There was a podium for Seppi Koch in the Opel Kadett with third place in the touring cars up to three liters. Jürg Ochsner also put in a strong performance: in the wet training session, he was still ranked below the rest in the two-liter category (19th), but on race day, the man from Schaffhausen took an excellent fifth place among 28 competitors in his Opel Kadett. As fifth among twelve drivers in the 1400s, Martin Bächler in his VW Lupo also came off respectably.
