Suzuki Cup: Full field with great names
STARTING LIST 39 drivers have registered by the first entry deadline for the 2019 Suzuki Swiss Racing Cup, including quite a few with former champions. Registrations are still possible. It was to be expected. The cost-effective Suzuki Swift Sport with its impressive driving performance and the simply kept regulations with the attractive prize money scheme attracts numerous specialists. Until the first [...]
It was to be expected. The inexpensive Suzuki Swift Sport with its impressive driving performance and the simply kept regulations with the attractive prize money scheme attracted numerous specialists. By the first entry deadline on February 28, 39 drivers or teams including double starters (two take turns at the wheel on one car) had registered.
Some of the names are familiar from the previous Suzuki Grand Prix, others from the OPC Challenge, which is no longer held. And some are still blank slates who can now measure themselves against the best in their field and ideally make their mark in the Suzuki Swiss Racing Cup, which has a top line-up right from the start.
Many champions and winning drivers
With Fabian Eggenberger, Sandro Fehr and Marcel Muzzarelli, the three strongest slalom cup drivers of recent years are also in the mix. In addition, Christian Zimmermann, Bruno Bleiker, Rolf Tremp, Jürg Jucker (former Mini Challenge), Ralf Henggeler (runner-up Renault Classic 2017), Andreas Saner, Kurt Andermatt and Markus Andres (both Lotus V6 Cup 2017), Jean-Claude Debrunner and Thomas Gerber are further winning drivers.
Heiko Leiber, Gilbert Denzer, Roland Graf and Daniel Schneider are also constant contenders for podium places in their appearances. Simeon Schneider often fought for class wins against the fastest Swift drivers with his Citroën Saxo in L2-1600 and is now competing directly against them for the first time with identical material.
Four women
Although no separate classification has yet been announced for them, four women - former Cooper pilots Barbara Baeriswyl and Alexandra Mühlethaler, Denzer's life partner Bettina Buess and Franziska Maissen - are seeking this new challenge.
The Vice Director and PR/Marketing Manager of Suzuki Automobile Switzerland, is pleased with the tremendous response.
Jürg Naef: "We had hoped for 25 to 30 competitors, and now our expectations have already been exceeded. There are even more requests, so the door is not closed yet. Anyone who wants to join in as well can still submit their entry, even during the season."
Show car at the Geneva Motor Show
A race-ready model, which differs from the production car only in the tires (semislicks from Yokohama) and the look with the stickers of the production partners, can be seen at the Suzuki stand in Geneva until March 17.
The premiere of the Suzuki Swiss Racing Cup will then take place on April 6 at the Interlaken slalom.
suzukiautomobile.ch/motorsport
