Motorsport: Records at the Swiss EM round

The organizers from the canton of Jura are rubbing their hands with glee. Although a round of the French mountain championship is taking place on the same weekend, the field of participants is excellent with 70 foreigners from eleven nations and more than 150 Swiss. Since the death of Lionel Régal in 2010, the years of investment in the safety of the ultra-fast race route from St-Ursanne to Les Rangiers have paid off with increasing participation. In order to create more space for safety vehicles to intervene quickly, the route at the start was extended by eleven meters to 5080 meters. The first tricky combination around the petrol station in St-Ursanne will therefore be tackled even faster. All previous class and group records will be recalculated, the previous best values will be used as a guide; there will be no additional points for the mountain championship due to the new route variant.

All the top pilots in various categories at the start
Because nothing has been decided in the European Hill Climb Championship after nine of twelve races, all the top drivers from the various categories are taking part. The battle for the day's victory promises to be exciting, with track record holder Simone Faggioli in the Norma sports car and Christian Merli in the Osella racing car battling it out. Both primarily want to win their groups, for which the same number of points are awarded. However, the day's victory in the fastest European Championship race of the year, which is determined in two races, is a matter of prestige. Their duel in 2014, when newcomer Christian Merli in the two-litre Osella Honda was only narrowly defeated by the now five-time winner Simone Faggioli in the big Osella-Zytek 3.0, will be remembered by insiders and could be repeated on Sunday.

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Photos: Peter Wyss