Slalom: Egli aims for first victory in Bière
ATTACK ON MAURER'S FESTIVAL After Interlaken and Frauenfeld, Philip Egli also wants to strike at the Bière slalom. However, unlike Marcel Maurer, the Dallara driver has never won there. Philip Egli set the pace at the wheel of his Dallara EPR-1 by winning the first two slaloms in Interlaken and Frauenfeld. At the third SM slalom on [...]
Philip Egli set the pace at the wheel of his Dallara EPR-1 by winning the first two slaloms in Interlaken and Frauenfeld. However, the signs are different for the third SM slalom on Sunday in Bière. The driver from Glarus has already been on the podium five times, but never at the top.
Philip Egli: "I will prepare even better and also try a new set-up."
Marcel Maurer knows how to win there
The Waffenplatz at the foot of the Col du Marchairuz is a particularly good place for his archrival. Marcel Maurer took his first ever national day victory there three years ago, when Bière was the rainy championship opener in April.
That the 4.1-kilometer circuit with 63 gates suits him even in normal conditions was proven by the Bernese driver of the Tatuus-Renault, who won again last year, when it was only wet in the morning during the first practice session and then dried off. However, there was only one race run due to time constraints.
Attention to Lukas Eugster
Maurer knows the reason for this. However, he sees another favorite besides Egli and himself.
Marcel Maurer: "The track is very fluid and has no unnatural corners in it. It suits my driving style well. Philip is a force to be reckoned with, even though he has never won in Bière. He has the package. But we definitely have to keep an eye on Lukas Eugster. He already drove strongly in Frauenfeld, and I think the Bière track will suit his car even more."
The last winner of a national slalom with a sports car was Tiziano Riva. In 2008, the man from Ticino also beat all the race car drivers in Bière in his Rebo BMW.
Who will lose next?
In addition to Egli and Eugster, five other drivers enter the third round without any losses. Defending champion Martin Bürki, as Frauenfeld has shown (breakage of the drive shaft), can only be beaten by technology in the Group E1 up to 1.6 liters if a repair on site is not possible.
Manuel Santonastaso, on the other hand, has to contend with several equal opponents in the IS-2000. On a good day, Jürg Ochsner and Kurt Tschirky can beat the BMW driver from Thurgau with their Opel Kadett 16V. In Frauenfeld, Ochsner was only nine tenths short at the first start of the season. There are no gifts in the IS Trophy...
This also applies to the IS up to 2.5 liters. Christoph Zwahlen was not as convincing recently in Frauenfeld as he was in his comeback year 2018 in Group E1, but he should also have his Kadet colleagues under control in Bière.
Hanspeter Thöni (Peugeot 106), who is also still unbeaten in a full class (at least five drivers), is rid of a threatening opponent in the N/ISN up to 1600 after the accident of last year's multiple winner Benu Brunner with the Citroën Saxo in the Frauenfeld spectator bend.
So it is quite possible that Philip Egli, under pressure from Maurer and Eugster - who always has to push into the top 5 due to a lack of class opponents - is the second contender for the 2019 SM podium to lose out after Christian Darani in Frauenfeld.
Record field of participants in the Suzuki Cup
On Saturday, it's the turn of the LOC classes at the 54th Bière Slalom, including the Suzuki Swiss Racing Cup. With 42 entries, the new one-make cup is even somewhat stronger than in the two April races. These were won by Sandro Fehr (Interlaken) and Marcel Muzzarelli (Frauenfeld). So it's quite possible that there will be another winner here.
On Sunday, the nationals will be competing for SM points. On both days, there will be two training runs in the morning and after the lunch break, two race runs, also separated by time, on the program.
Quotes: Christian Eichenberger, Auto Sport Switzerland
