Suzuki Racing Cup: Eggenberger strikes back twice

TWO WINS OVER THE CHAMPION As part of the Frauenfeld Auto Race Days, Fabian Eggenberger decided both Suzuki slaloms in his favor on Saturday. Local hero and champion Marcel Muzzarelli and all the others had no chance.

Peter Wyss - May 14, 2022

Although Fabian Eggenberger was disadvantaged as a double starter, he decided the two races in Frauenfeld in his favor (Photos: Peter Wyss).

At the season opener in Bière, Marcel Muzzarelli was in a class of his own. His opponents in the Suzuki Swiss Racing Cup, where fractions of a second usually decide the podium places, seemed perplexed. Two weeks later, someone took revenge in a similarly convincing manner.

Duel for victory, four-way fight for the podium
During the 22nd ACS Thurgau Auto Race Days in Frauenfeld, Fabian Eggenberger struck back twice in warm early summer weather. In the morning race on the 3.2-kilometer course with 49 gates, however, the Zurich native was only able to distance himself from the Grisons native, who has been living in the canton of Thurgau for 17 years, by four hundredths.

Patrick Flammer, already third in Bière, and Sandro Fehr also stayed within the same second with a running time of just over two and a half minutes.

Change at the top of the table
In the afternoon Eggenberger once again got everything out of his Suzuki Swift Sport 48V Hybrid and distanced Muzzarelli by more than half a second. His always aggressive driving style paid off this time, while the finer and more efficient driving style of the champion was again "only" enough for second place.

The defending champion enviously acknowledged that he had no chance against the well-mannered challenger, although the winner had to deal with stressed brakes and tires due to the double start with Heiko Leiber. With the double strike Eggenberger took over the championship lead from Muzzarelli, now the score is 58 to 56 in his favor.

Eggenberger grabbed the two biggest trophies and the championship lead.

Fehr stays on the ball
Sandro Fehr seemed as satisfied as the double winner about the last podium place in the second race and the minimal gap of six hundredths to "Muzz". Without a mistake in the last corner, however, he would have beaten the champion. In the standings, Fehr maintained the third intermediate place.

After a gate error in the first run of race 2, Patrick Flammer drove a bit too much for safety in the final run and, to his own surprise, lost more than 2.5 seconds. As a result, Rico Thomann in the second Suzuki in Flammer team colors moved up from fifth in the first to fourth in the second race - the best result so far for the 2019 Swiss Junior Mountain Champion.

The 6th and 7th places of Cup senior Rolf Tremp (69) were also strong, while the 7th and 5th places of Michaël Béring, who like Thomann has one season of hybrid experience, did not quite meet his expectations.