St-Ursanne: Faggioli continues the winning streak

The weather was optimal at the 75th Int. hill climb St-Ursanne-Les Rangiers and the 5.18 km long track was newly asphalted by another kilometer in the area of the ultra-fast curve Les Grippons in the run-up. Ideal conditions therefore.

With European champion Simone Faggioli and his long-time challenger Christian Merli, the world's two best mountain racers of the present day fought the expected high-level duel for the day's victory in the Swiss round of the European Mountain Championship. And yet the course record of 1'41.53 set by Merli last year was never seriously threatened.

Problems with the two favorites
The South Tyrolean visibly struggled with the set-up of his Osella FA30 with active front suspension. After being the fastest in all three practice runs, Merli was 1.4 seconds behind Faggioli after the first race run with the shifted race car.

However, the sports car drivers still had a clean track, while the fastest race car drivers had to settle for a cleaned oil track.

Even Faggioli, who had been competing in Europe for more than two months, was not completely satisfied with the balance of the Norma M20 FC, which had been further developed for 2018. When the still European champion was only able to improve from 1'42.70 to 1'42.10 in the second run, he was no longer sure of his lead.

Simone Faggioli: "The new Norma has potential, but I can't exploit it yet. We're working on it successively. When you suddenly go into oversteer in Les Grippons, which I drove all the way through with no problem in last year's car, it gives you a fright. I think Christian is now driving a new record."

Merli in front of the first European Championship title
The Florentine was wrong. His challenger no longer put all his eggs in one basket and remained two tenths above Faggioli's fastest time of the day. With a lead of 1.592 seconds, Faggioli's eighth victory at the Swiss round of the European Championship was relatively clear.

In the back of Merli's mind were the full points for the European Mountain Championship, which would take him a big step towards the title. In Switzerland, Andrea Bormolini on an Osella-BMW competing in Group CN conceded his first defeat of the season against his surprisingly strong compatriot Francesco Turatello on a two-liter Osella.

Dissatisfied Marcel Steiner
Clear number 3 was first Marcel Steiner with the exotic LobArt amidst the many Norma and Osella. In the second run he only managed a minimal improvement to 1'47.42, while his pursuers Fausto Bormolini in the Reynard-Cosworth K01 and Diego de Gaspari in the ex-Faggioli Osella FA30 improved by two seconds and more to lower 1'47 times.

Although he was only the fifth-best rider in terms of running times, Steiner achieved the targeted third place overall. This resulted in the same podium as in 2017.

Nevertheless, the Swiss champion was not quite happy about the gap of 10.3 seconds to Faggioli in the addition of the two runs and the narrow advantage of 1.5 to old champion Bormolini (never drove under 1'50 until 2018 and now 1'47.4) and 1.8 to newcomer De Gaspari.

Marcel Steiner: "Car, driver and times were not really top. With the Osella FA30 I drove here already 1'45. From the feeling I gassed up, but in the forest passages the engine somehow did not pull properly."

Fight for the SM medal ranks
After all, in the absence of Eric Berguerand (who has never raced here again since his accident in 2007), the man from Berne scored 25 valuable SM points with which he extended his lead in the standings. The second-fastest Swiss was Fabien Boudupan from the Jura in team boss Faggioli's former Norma, already 13.3 seconds behind Steiner.

Fabien Bouduban: "The change from the two- to the three-liter Norma is striking. The car is bigger, heavier and faster. To fathom this takes time, with Simone and Faggioli driving in a league of their own à la the world championship."

In his first start with the Reynard K01 on the fastest track in the SM calendar, Robin Faustini improved from 2'03.4 in the first practice session to 1'53.6 in the second race run. This earned the 20-year-old from Aargau ninth place overall and third place in the Swiss classification. Faustini is also aiming for this in the championship.

Marcel Maurer has never been so fast on the hill in a Formula Renault Midland, which earned him second place in the two-liter class behind the unbeatable Frenchman Billy Ritchen on a Dallara-Mercedes F3. As fourth-best Swiss, he relegated Jean-Marc Salomon, Joël Grand (both Tatuus-Honda FM) and Christophe Weber (Dallara-Opel F3) to places.

Defect witch does not let go of Reto Meisel
As the fastest driver with a roof over his head, Reto Meisel with the Mercedes SLK340 classified in the group E2-SH (Silhouette) was the only one to get under the two-minute barrier in practice (1'58.799).

Unfortunately, before the start of the first race, the starter motor of the bitchy homebuilt failed once again. It was a pity that the spectators could not enjoy the acoustic and visual treat on Sunday.

On the other hand, they saw other touring car drivers in top form. Ronnie Bratschi stayed just over two minutes in the second race with his 750 hp Mitsubishi, beating his own class record from 2016 and winning the overall classification of all touring cars and GT vehicles.

In the morning, Pierre Courroye had led the field in the unique McLaren MP4 12C with an incredible time of 2'02 - after all, the 23-year-old Frenchman had never driven on this track before.

Only group record of the day by Frédéric Neff
After the first run, Bratschi, Nicolas Werver and Thomas Kessler were still within one second of Courroye. While trying to attack the man from Uri, the Frenchman sank his Porsche 997 GT2 in the last hairpin before the finish. Second place in Group E1 thus went to Kessler, who delivered the best performance of the season so far in his Mitsubishi Evo VIII.

Third place went to Romeo Nüssli in a Ford Escort Cosworth after Werver's retirement. This horrendously fast track was not particularly suited to him, even in Formula 3, and he also longs for rain...

Impressive once again Michel Zemp, who achieved the fourth fastest touring car time with the front-wheel-drive Cupra Leon TCR, whether he himself shocked!

Even Frédéric Neff was a tick slower, although he realized the announced record time in the Interswiss group with his Porsche 996 GT3 R early in the morning at 7:38.

With the two additional points, he is closing in on Bratschi and SuperSeries winner Andy Feigenwinter in the Lotus Exigie 430 Cup, who are at the top of the standings. They will decide the SM medal positions between them.

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