Slalom: First round goes to Egli
DAY WINNER As in the previous year, Philip Egli prevailed over Marcel Maurer in the Interlaken Slalom. The theoretical favorites for the championship title also solved their first task in the best way. Two days after the onset of winter, which would have made it impossible to hold the first round of the Swiss Slalom Championship at the Interlaken airfield, conditions were almost ideal on Saturday. With cold [...]
Two days after the onset of winter, which would have made it impossible to hold the first round of the Swiss Slalom Championship at the Interlaken airfield, conditions were almost ideal on Saturday. In cold temperatures, the two fastest race car drivers achieved their best times in the morning practice.
Although he came to a halt in the second practice run with a broken drive shaft on the Tatuus-Renault, Marcel Maurer's first practice time was only 1.4 seconds behind Philip Egli's better second time. This promised an exciting battle for the day's victory.
Shorter is better
The shorter gear ratio specially made at Hewland in Egli's Dallara F393 already paid off in the race in warmer temperatures under sunshine. In both runs on the course, which is now only 2.767 kilometers long but still fast with 45 gates, the driver from Glarus retained the upper hand over the Bernese.
Philip Egli: "A good start into the SM season. Everything worked well, so I am satisfied. In the Wedel I got irritated by track marshals jumping around, otherwise the second run would have been even better."
Maurer throws down the gauntlet to Egli
After the defect of the morning, which he fixed with his nimble crew in no time at all, Marcel Maurer was also satisfied with the place of honor considering the gap of only 85 hundredths.
Marcel Maurer: "I didn't think I'd get so close to Philip here. At some point, he's due..."
Perhaps as early as April 28 in Frauenfeld, which is Egli country, but more likely in Bière (May 19), where the winner of Interlaken, unlike Maurer, has actually never won.
Balmer and Eugster's fight for the podium
The best performance so far at his home race, which he always uses with the Tatuus-Honda FM for the run-in before the hill climbs, was given by Christian Balmer. Fifth in practice, more than three seconds behind Lukas Eugster, he edged him out of the overall podium by three tenths in the second race.
As a result, the first three places went to three drivers from the two-liter race car class. Eugster, however, was convincing in his first appearance in the Ligier-Honda. The man from Herisau proved that it is also possible to race for top places in slaloms in such a sports car with a production engine.
Lukas Eugster: "The car is much more agile and better to drive than the Formula Renault. Without a small mistake in the second run, it might have been enough for third place. But I'm happy that everything has worked so well so far and that I'm closer to Philip and Marcel, as expected."
Zurichers already afloat
Tom Zürcher was also extremely fast at the premiere with the Tatuus F4, driven by Bergmeister Marcel Steiner. Once the specially built 1200cc Barth turbo engine for the two-liter class is installed, which should happen around the end of April/beginning of May, the competition will have to watch out for the five-time Clio champion. Zürcher, however, wants to start with it mainly on the mountain.
Behind Michael Helm in a Tatuus F4 Evo and race car newcomer Denis Wolf in a Formula Renault Caparo (not bad for a start), Patrick Drack in a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup came in eighth overall as the fastest driver from the touring car and GT car camp, tied with Andreas Helm in the also newly acquired TracKing Suzuki.
Darani keeps his nerve
Christian Darani proved to have nerves of steel and cleverness. After a defect in the transmission linkage of his Fiat X 1/9 (with VW Golf engine), he had to manage a clean and fast second race run. The 48-year-old from Ticino did this with bravura and relegated Reto Steiner in the Ford Escort RS V6, who had been leading until then, from the top of the strongly contested E1-2000. Darani himself admits that he wants to race for the title for the first time in 2019.
Sandwiched between these two in the overall standings were TCR soloist Patrick Flammer in the Opel Astra and slalom title defender Martin Bürki. Although he primarily wanted to secure the 20 points for the class win with a new KW chassis under the bodywork of his VW Polo 1600 E1, only Drack and Darani from Group E1 were faster.
Full points for "Santi" and Zwahlen
In the Interswiss group, Manuel Santonastaso was the fastest in the BMW 320 now equipped with a flat underbody and diffuser. Christoph Zwahlen took victory in the class up to 2.5 liters in the Opel Kadett despite a goal error in the second run. They will face stronger competition in Frauenfeld, where points for the IS Trophy will also be at stake for the first time.
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