Switzerland: agony of choice for hill climb fans 🎥
THREE AT ONE WEEKEND With St-Ursanne-Les Rangiers, the largest Swiss mountain race, which is part of the European Championship, is taking place again after three years. In Walzenhausen-Lachen and Ollon-Villars, the focus is on historic vehicles.
The St-Ursanne-Les Rangiers International Hill Climb is unique in the Swiss Championship calendar. It has been part of the European Hill Climb Championship since 1972 and is loved, feared or shunned by the drivers.
The highspeed show in the Jura
The passage around the gas station at the end of the village of St-Ursanne and the subsequent full-throttle "Les Grippons," a left-hand bend under the highway bridge, are a treat for hillclimb racing connoisseurs and a test of courage for the drivers.
Unbeaten for years, Simone Faggioli covered the 5180 meters up to Les Malettes 2019 in 1'39,306 and an average of incredible 187,8 km/h. Notabene despite the two hairpin turns at the "Petit Susten" wonderfully clear for spectators and a third hairpin below the finish.
The two videos illustrate the track characteristics and the tremendous speed.
Christian Merli as the lone favorite
This year, multi-champion Faggioli is concentrating on the national championship and leaving the territory to compatriot Christian Merli (center gallery). The man from Trentino is therefore the crown favorite at the hill climb, which is being held for the 76th time, after always losing to Faggioli so far despite nerve-wracking, valiant opposition.
Since Merli also managed a 1'39 time three years ago, he can also be expected to set a new track record at the wheel of the optimum Osella FA30 with three-liter Cytek LMR V8 engine (gallery left). He last did so on August 7, 2022, at the FIA Hill Climb Cup in Osnabrück (report here).
Who is on the podium?
The battle for the places of honor on the overall winners' podium will also be exciting. In the absence of SM leader Eric Berguerand (who has never ridden there again since his serious accident in 2007), Marcel Steiner has always been number 3 behind the Italo duo in recent years.
Since Steiner does not want to equip the Helftec Honda turbo engine in the LobArt sports car with a restrictor prescribed in FIA races, the Bernese is primarily concerned with prestige and a full 25 points towards the Swiss championship.
Other podium contenders are Robin Faustini, Joël Volluz and the German Alexander Hin in their Osella FA30s, as well as the Spaniard Joseba Iraolo, who is always fast, at least in his homeland, and the Czech Petr Trnka in their sports cars. In the European Mountain Championship category 2 racing cars, Merli leads ahead of Trnka and Hin.
Robin's dad Simon Hugentobler makes a comeback with the "old" Reynard 97D and will try to leave at least one or more class opponents behind him. A total of 14 three-liter race cars from the E2-SC and E2-SS groups will be competing in the Start list.
Long-distance duels in the touring cars
The touring cars are completely divided into two categories. Since 2021, the European Championship has been contested in groups according to performance factor (Pf1 to 5), while the SM has been contested in the usual categories.
Thus it comes to the long-distance duel between the strongest Swiss Reto Meisel in the Mercedes SLK 340 and Roger Schnellmann in the Mitsubishi monster from the group E1 with the Austrian Karl Schagerl in the approximately 700 HP strong VW Golf Turbo (gallery right, photo: Michael Tratinak, Hillclimbfans), the infernal Italian Manuel Dondi in the Fiat X 1/9 with Alfa Romeo STW engine and the Croatian Domagoj Perekovic in his Mitsubishi, all from the EM group 1.
For the Swiss, of course, it's all about the championship points, for the foreigners it's about important European Championship points. But only one person can become the overall touring car winner and thus the successor to Ronnie Bratschi. The track record holder from the canton of Uri will only be there as an observer because his Mitsubishi is not ready for action due to a lack of spare engine parts. Bratschi hopes to at least be able to test somewhere in the fall.
Equally interesting will be the comparison of running times between local hero Frédéric Neff in a Porsche 996 GT2 R and Frenchman Nicolas Werver in a 997 GT3 R, who is always strong in the Jura.
It all starts on Saturday at 7 a.m. with the first of three practice runs. The first of two races will also start at 7 a.m. on Sunday.
Mountain race revivals in eastern and western Switzerland
The other two events are also worth seeing, although they are not about best times. The "Historic Hillclimb Walzenhausen-Lachen" high above Lake Constance and the "Historic Hillclimb Ollon-Villars International Motor Race" in the canton of Vaud are reminiscent of earlier hillclimbs with their periodic revivals that are postponed due to Corona.
This clash of dates is unfortunate, because both events attract a nice field of participants from historic sports vehicles with two, three and four wheels. In Walzenhausen, the majority of participants are from the German-speaking part of Switzerland, including a number of modern racing cars. Among the gems are Fredy Lienhard in a Ferrari 333SP, Peter Sauber in a Sauber C1, Formula 2 by and with Fredy Amweg, local hero Erwin Steingruber, Roger Moser and Jo Vonlanthen, and Lukas Eugster and Christoph Lampert in their modern two-liter sports cars.
With Agostini, Stewart and Siffert
In Ollon, meanwhile, the French and some foreigners are in the majority. Stars include motorcycle icon Giacomo Agostini, Jackie Stewart (probably only in a Ferrari on Saturday afternoon), and Nicolas Prost and Philippe Siffert, the sons of two F1 legends.
The automotive focus will be on the sports and racing cars of Cegga from Aigle, who have made history at many a Swiss mountain race, especially with honorary OC president Georges Gachnang (91).
More info is available on the Internet. With the best will in the world, no recommendations can be made...
