Motorsport: The mountain juniors have been determined
SWISS RACE ACADEMY The eight participants in the newly launched Berg-SM Junior have been confirmed. Among them is Mario Koch, who has a hereditary predisposition. All of them will be driving standard Toyota GT86s in accordance with SuperSeries regulations. The latest edition of AutoSprintCH has been available free of charge for a few days at garages, petrol stations and airports as well as for download from the [...]
The latest issue of AutoSprintCH has been available free of charge at garages, petrol stations and airports for a few days now, and can also be downloaded from the Internet. Attentive readers have already discovered the names of the eight drivers who have qualified to take part in the Swiss Junior Hill Climb Championship.
The Swiss Race Academy is a targeted school for young talent in hillclimb racing. The masterminds behind it are former mountain champion Hans Schori and his equally experienced son Yves Meyer from Drivingcenter Seelisberg. With the blessing of Auto Sport Switzerland ASS and the National Sports Commission NSK, they are already allowed to hold their own championship with SM status this season.
Unlike in the comparable Junior Rally Championship, the number of participants is limited to eight people between the ages of 18 and 28 without any experience in hill climbs. In addition, the cars used are uniform Toyota GT86s, which are prepared and entered centrally.
A total of 29 interested parties registered, 23 of whom met the admission criteria and 21 of whom appeared for the inspection in Seelisberg on January 8. The task was to complete a fast lap of the virtual Hockenheimring on a racing simulator - the best drivers came within one second of DTM professional Nico Müller's target.
A surprisingly high level
The actual test of talent had to take place on the small circuit at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Evo 8. FIA E1 European mountain champion Ronnie Bratschi was on hand as an expert observer. The changeable winter conditions did not make things easy, but revealed who was able to adapt quickly. "Sometimes the conditions changed from driver to driver, but that can also be the case in hill climbs," Yves Meyer points out. "We were surprised at how high the standard was."
The eight selected candidates come from all over Switzerland. At 18, Yannick Egler from Niederbipp is the youngest, having already taken part in the ASS Young Drivers selection in 2013. Mario Koch from Malters is the 26-year-old son of mountain specialist Seppi Koch (3rd SM 2016). Lukas Eugster from Herisau, who is the same age, finished 14th in the KZ2 category of the 2015 Karting Championship. The other competitors are Aurelio Demski (21) from Wil AG, Benjamin Devaud (25) from Collombey, Raphael Feigenwinter (21) from Therwil, Rolf Reding (23) from Immensee and Joshua Reynolds (21) from Emmetten.
On March 11, they will attend a training day in Seelisberg before completing a license course in their own cars in Hockenheim on May 22/23. Although this is not mandatory for obtaining the REG license required for hill climbs, the eight title candidates can learn a lot there.
We will then see how they put what they have learned into practice in Hemberg, Anzère, Oberhallau and Gurnigel. AutoSprintCH will continue to report on this on an ongoing basis.
