Suzuki Racing Cup: Applause for the champion

No championship has ever been decided so quickly. On April 30, the drivers started the 2022 racing season with their mostly new Swift Sport Hybrid 48V. Exactly four weeks later, after six of the seven races completed, the champion in the Suzuki Swiss Racing Cup was already decided after the Bure slalom on May 28.

Cool head in stressful times
Fabian Eggenberger made it possible with four wins and two second places. Only at the beginning of the season in Bière was Marcel Muzzarelli clearly ahead of him after a show of power, after which the challenger distanced the defending champion in the standings point by point.

Eggenberger could live well with Sandro Fehr's win in Ambri 2, as Patrick Flammer also got ahead of Muzz and thus took another point from him.

After his fourth win of the season and Muzzarelli's (upper gallery, left) renewed fourth place in Bure, it is no longer mathematically possible for the dethroned champion of 2019 and 2021 to knock the Cup leader off his throne at the final in Chamblon, even after deducting a strike result.

To become champion so early, in only 28 days, also felt special to the new champion.

Fabian Eggenberger: "Five out of six races on consecutive weekends were stressful. Because I also have a lot to do in my garage, there was hardly any time to check the car. All the more reason for me to want to secure the title early with another win."

Enormous power density at the top
The fact that the top three in the Jura - Eggenberger, Flammer (center gallery) and Fehr (right gallery) - were separated by less than eight tenths and that Muzzarelli would have been third without the gate error in the faster second run also gave him food for thought. Already in the previous races, fractions of a second decided the podium places.

Fabian Eggenberger: "To be so close at 5255 meters is abnormal. My closest opponents are beaten below value in the."

Hybrid better than expected
Like predecessor Muzzarelli, Eggenberger is an actual one-make cup specialist. As early as 2012 and 2013, the 45-year-old garage owner from Dübendorf won the then Suzuki Grand Prix, and most recently in 2018 also the internal Suzuki prize money classification within the LOC2 class until the launch of the new turbo model.

Now he is the first master with an electrically assisted model, which he can only take a positive view of.

Fabian Eggenberger: "Before, I had the feeling that the hybrid didn't suit me so well. With every race, I've realized for myself how well the car fits and how fast it is, as you can see from the times I've set."

Recognition from the strongest opponents
Respect is also paid to him by the opponents, the strongest three of whom express themselves on behalf of all.

Marcel Muzzarelli: "Chapeau to Eggenberger's performance in Bure and throughout the season. He has obviously found the right recipe with the hybrid car. With four wins in six races, he absolutely deserves the championship!"

Sandro Fehr: "I can only applaud Fabian's performance. He has managed to get through this year without making any mistakes and always goes one better. I'm very happy for him."

Patrick Flammer: "Fabian's time in Bure was unattainable for me. He is the deserved champion. This year, everything went right for him, he was incredibly fast and consistent."

The beaten trio also showed top performances in individual races and are now still battling it out for the runner-up title and third place in the championship. There is still a lot of prize money at stake. Of course, everyone hopes to beat the other...

Béring not yet at top level
Michaël Béring (lower gallery, left) was particularly aware of the high level of the top four. Despite hybrid experience in the 2021 mini-season, the Jura native only managed a podium finish in Ambri in third place. At the familiar home race, he was surprisingly far away from it in fifth place.

However, the son of the 1975 and 1976 European mountain champion has secured fifth place in the championship and will try to take fourth place from Patrick Flammer.

Rico Thomann and Reto Steiner finished 6th and 7th with the Suzuki from the Flammer Speed Team in Bure. As a newcomer on the most difficult and fastest track, Thomann lost less than one second per kilometer, reflecting the talent of the 2019 Junior Mountain Champion.

Sandro Fehr: "Bure is completely different from the other slalom courses. To be fast here, you have to have courage and clench your butt cheeks. For newcomers, it's impossible to be fast there without experience. Therefore, hats off to Rico!"

Difficult love relationship
Jean-Claude Debrunner, Roland Graf (center gallery) - faster than car partner Rolf Tremp (12th) for only the second time - and Heiko Leiber in Eggenberger's car also still made it into the top 10 with a respectable margin.

And after his eleventh place among 16 competitors, Giuliano Piccinato (gallery, right) at least looked less sad than after his penultimate place in Ambri. However, the series-produced sports car with mild hybrid will certainly not become his great love in this lifetime ...

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