Reitnau: Berguerand shows his strength

It was a clear demonstration of power that Eric Berguerand put on on the hot Sunday in Reitnau. Already in the first training session he was only about four tenths above Marcel Steiner's last year's track record of 47.86 seconds. As the defending champion improved somewhat in the second trial run and his challenger slowed down a little, the outcome of the duel still seemed open.

A clear verdict
With 47.32, Berguerand pulverized the previous record mark on the only 1.6-kilometer track, while Steiner even stayed above his training times and thus earned himself an almost uncatchable gap of 1.5 seconds. In the second heat, the Valais native set the new course record at a fantastic 47.22 seconds. Thus he celebrated his seventh day victory in Reitnau.

Eric Berguerand: "When everything works, something like this is possible. In Hemberg, I sat in the car for the first time and didn't have any new tires. Everything worked here. I'm driving calmer and faster than ever. That's the reward for all the work with this car."

Perplexed Marcel Steiner
Although Steiner came down to 48.51 in the second race run, he not only remained clearly above his last year's record time, but also lost almost three seconds (2.92) in the addition - a world tour. The man from Bern had no plausible explanation for this. His LobArt sports car is apparently increasingly inferior to Berguerand's Lola homebuilt with Formula 1 aerodynamics.

Marcel Steiner: "It can't be the heat, it's the same for everyone. I don't see how I could go another second faster here."

With a maximum of 54 points for two wins in record time, Berguerand is already 14 points ahead of Steiner in the Swiss mountain racing championship. If he continues like this, the defending champion will be rid of another record as early as next Sunday in Massongex.

Thomas Amweg faster than ever
The battle of the fastest Aargauers for third place overall was clearly decided in favor of Thomas Amweg. His team's work on the Lola B99/50 is also starting to pay off. Twice he came in under the 50-second mark, taking second place in the big race cars and thus giving his future wife Verena the trophy she wanted for her birthday.

Thomas Amweg: "After last year's technical debacle, I'm happy now. It was important to close the gap to the front. It's going in the right direction."

There's no question that the son of former mountain king Fredy Amweg will soon be a match for Marcel Steiner. Robin Faustini is still far away from that, as long as he keeps his Reynard-Nippon aerodynamically in its original condition.

Robin Faustini: "I feel fitter and more comfortable in the car than ever before. But more is not possible on such technical tracks. With the smaller wings and the underbody, it's built for higher speeds. Massongex will still be difficult, but after that I'm looking forward to Anzère."

Exclamation mark from Zürcher and Zemp
The sensational fifth-best time was achieved by Tom Zürcher in the small Tatuus F4. Although the original Abarth turbo engine is still in it, he was ahead of Christian Balmer in the Tatuus-Honda FM from the two-liter class and Simon Hugentobler in the Reynard-Mugen. Zürcher will undoubtedly set new standards in the E2 SS-2000 once (from Anzère?) the 1170cc racing turbo engine developed in Italy is installed.

Michel Zemp also made an exclamation mark with the Norma Honda. Although the gearshift is not yet working perfectly, no two-liter sports car has ever been so fast in Reitnau. If he hadn't "messed up" the second race run, as he says himself, because he hit a pothole at the edge of the track after the start, fifth place overall would have been possible.

Schnellmann beats Bratschi
In the touring car category, Roger Schnellmann retained the upper hand as in Hemberg, this time also over Ronnie Bratschi. After the two Mitsubishi drivers were separated by only eight hundredths in the first run, Schnellmann was able to improve more significantly thereafter.

The beaten man also congratulated without envy and admitted to having made a driving mistake in the finishing bend. Thomas Kessler in the third Mitsubishi was eliminated in the first run due to a spin. Simon Wüthrich was badly hit when he was not notified of an oil spill and crashed his VW Golf Turbo 4WD into the concrete wall. The damage to this unique car is considerable.

Feigenwinter continues to amaze
Despite shock absorber damage to his VW Polo, otherwise only two-liter winner Danny Krieg in the Audi A4 STW was faster in Group E1 than Martin Bürki from the 1600cc class. There was a premiere in Group IS, in which Jürg Ochsner in the two-liter Kadett was faster than all the larger-displacement vehicles.

Andy Feigenwinter confirmed his top performance from Hemberg with his Lotus Exige 430 Cup. He was the first driver from the SuperSeries to clearly undercut the minute barrier in the first run with 59.17. Thus the Therwiler shows the points maximum in the touring cars. Although Feigenwinter will be absent in Massongex (vacation), he will remain at the top of the standings until Anzère, as all his pursuers (except Bratschi) will also forego the next SM round and draw the strike result.

In the Renault Clio Cup, Philipp Krebs won again ahead of René Schnidrig. In the Berg-SM Junior, the first winner was Rico Thomann. With a surprisingly clear best time in the second run, the Winterthur native pushed Pascal Siegrist back to second place by three hundredths. We will report separately on both championships this week.

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