Reitnau: Mountain Juniors before the premiere
THIRD YEAR The hill climb in Reitnau marks the start of the Junior championship on Sunday. Seven newcomers from the Swiss Race Academy in Seelisberg are fighting for the SM title on Toyota GT86s. After the sighting in January, the license course in Hockenheim in March and the test day in May, it is finally time next Sunday, June 30 [...]
After the sighting in January, the license course in Hockenheim in March and the test day in May, the time has finally come next Sunday, June 30: The third year of the Swiss Race Academy from Seelisberg will start at the hill climb Reitnau for the Swiss Hill Climb Championship Junior 2019.
Surrounded by passes
At 19, Gianluca Forcella from St. Moritz is the youngest of all the drivers so far. The man from Graubünden is a car mechanic, knows racing as a spectator, drives a Golf GTI and a Beta trial machine, and feels called to mountain racing because of his surroundings: "After all, I'm surrounded by mountain passes."
Hereditary predisposition
Michael Müller (Näfels) and Noah Suter (Suhr) are only slightly older than Forcella. Müller is an apprentice in his parents' garage in Niederurnen, has a racing background through his father Martin (drove NSU and Formula 3, among others), has already tested a Formula 4 and successfully races karts in the Roc Cup, in which he won the junior classification in 2018. Müller: "If I give my all as I have so far, I can also achieve good results on the mountain."
Tips from Robin Faustini
Noah Suter is also an apprentice car mechanic and is a close relative of Robin Faustini. He has already traveled to various hillclimb races with the Formula 3000 driver from Suhr, who is only a little older, and knows circuits from track days with a Toyota GT86. So the prerequisites are good, which fuels his ambition: "I want to be among the fastest and hope I can implement valuable tips from Robin."
The confident martial artist
The four other competitors are Marco Grilli (25, Bettwil), Sandro Müller (22, Arth), Pascal Siegrist (26, Strengelbach) and Rico Thomann (25, Winterthur). Grilli owns his own garage in Zwillikon, practices martial arts, has driven Porsche slaloms and in drift series, and is starting his first racing season as an Aargauer practically around the corner. He knows what he wants: "Of course I'm in it to win it and I see real chances."
The confident
Computer scientist Sandro Müller is not related to Martin and was given the impetus to register with the Swiss Race Academy for 2019 by last year's participant Desirée Blumer. As a sailing athlete, he is now switching from the water to the asphalt, which he knows from track days and driving events in Seelisberg. So far, he has only driven karts for fun. The man from Schwyz is also ambitious: "I see potential in myself and hope to be able to drive up front."
The determined
For Pascal Siegrist, car racing is a dream he has never been able to pursue after his time as a kart driver for cost reasons. It remained with test drives in a Formula Renault. As an employee in his father's garage in Safenwil, he is familiar with fast cars, as well as a spectator at mountain races. Now he is part of it himself and is setting his sights on top-3 finishes. "Because it's important to have goals."
The reserved
Rico Thomann already knows how to drive fast. The man from Winterthur has already competed in several KZ2 races in the Vega Trofeo and was sixth overall in 2018. He knows hill climbs as a spectator, and Hemberg (where unfortunately there was no racing) from karting in the show block. Nevertheless, he keeps his cool: "It won't be easy. I have no expectations and take it up front. I know what I can do."
Conclusion: An interesting vintage
The presentation of the seven juniors shows: It is an interesting cohort. In terms of average age, it is the youngest in the three years of the Swiss Race Academy. As before, they will be racing with standardized Toyota GT86s in accordance with the Superseries regulations, which are used centrally by Swiss Driving Event Seelisberg. They now roll on road tires from Nexen.
After the start of the season in Reitnau, the mountain races in Anzère (July 28), Oberhallau (August 25) and now in Les Paccots (September 15) instead of Gurnigel (September 8) count towards the Berg-SM Junior. After two riders had dominated the first two editions (Rolf Reding 2017 and Thomas Schmid 2018 each won all four races), some variety would now be desirable. The tension is rising...
