Motorsport: Strong start to the ETCC season for Rikli
After two podium finishes in the opening round of the European Touring Car Cup in the south of France, Peter Rikli is once again in second place in this highly competitive championship, as he was last year. It was only on Tuesday afternoon that Rikli Motorsport was able to take delivery of the two newly acquired Civics from Honda works partner JAS in Italy (see online report from March 31). On Sunday, Peter Rikli was at the wheel at the premiere [...]
It was only on Tuesday afternoon that Rikli Motorsport was able to take delivery of the two newly acquired Civic cars from Honda works partner JAS in Italy (see online report from March 31). On Sunday, Peter Rikli was already on the FIA ETCC podium twice at the premiere with this 330 hp race touring car at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet! "Yes, it really couldn't have gone much better for me," confirmed the team leader when asked.
The enormous power density in this year's European Cup was already evident in qualifying: just 66 hundredths of a second separated the first nine of the twelve touring cars in the top S2000 category, which are the new TCR generation (two-liter turbos). Peter Rikli secured sixth place on the grid and team newcomer Kris Richard eighth. Christjohannes Schreiber, the third Swiss driver in the field in a Seat Leon Cup Racer, did even better. The man from Graubünden ended up in 7th and 8th place.
Rikli plays out his routine
In both races, Rikli was able to show off his experience and skills, which brought him 3rd and 2nd place. Only European champion Petr Fulin (CZ) was significantly stronger as a two-time winner in one of the eight Seat Leon cars. "Considering that I had to adapt to the unfamiliar handling of a turbo front-wheel drive car in such a short time, I'm very satisfied. The whole team did an excellent job in cooperation with JAS and Mugen. We certainly have nothing to hide," says the Bernese driver happily.
Bad luck at the start for Kris Richard
The downer was Kris Richard's bad luck. His young Bernese canton colleague was involved in collisions in both starting phases. In the first race, the 21-year-old car mechanic and truck driver showed an impressive race to catch up after a spin caused by a third party, which brought him up from 14th to fifth place with the fastest race lap of the entire field. In the commotion after the start of the second race, his Honda Civic was so badly damaged that he had to retire in the pits. "As annoying as this is, it's important for me to know that I'm already coping very well with this touring car. I have to forget what happened as quickly as possible and concentrate on the next race at the Slovakiaring in two weeks' time," said the youngster, demonstrating his professional attitude. He is certainly a promise for the future.
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Photos: Riki Motorsport
