Zeller: "There was nothing to gain".
SEASON FINALE WITHOUT RISK For once, a race weekend of Sandro Zeller in the Drexler Formula Cup ended without a victory. In Hungary, the lack of experience on the GP circuit could not be made up without risk. Sandro Zeller, who had already been crowned champion, would not have had to take part in the final event of the Drexler-Automotive Formula Cup at the Hungaroring. Because [...]
Sandro Zeller, who had already been crowned champion, would not have had to take part in the final event of the Drexler-Automotive Formula Cup at the Hungaroring. However, because he has never raced on the Hungarian GP circuit with the Dallara F312, which is being used for the first time in 2019, and the Pirelli tires, Jo Zeller Racing regarded this entry as an investment in the future should races be scheduled again in 2020. In addition, Marcel Tobler and Florian Münger also rely on the support of the Zurich team.
Test under race conditions
The example of some of the competitors showed how much experience counts. Both the Italians from the Italy F2 Trophy and the Eastern Europeans competing in a regional championship have already contested races at the Hungaroring in 2019. Their strongest representatives were also in front in all three races. The champion, on the other hand, started from scratch.
Sandro Zeller: "For us, this was more a weekend for testing. We therefore used fewer tires for the three races. In addition, I wasn't that fast at the beginning, but I improved from race to race."
But still two podium places
This explains why Sandro Zeller did not manage more than two fourth places in races 1 and 2. Since Serbian Paolo Brajnik did not count towards the championship, this still meant two podium finishes for the most successful Swiss of the last few years.
Only in the third race, which was held for the first time in this event series, did Zeller slip up - the yellow and red Dallara stopped at the start. Because overtaking is difficult on this twisty track and the F312 is hardly faster on the straights than a Formula Renault due to its downforce-oriented aerodynamics, Zeller needed a lot of time to catch up with the midfield. More than 9th place among 26 competitors was no longer possible in the 28 minutes without taking risks.
Sandro Zeller: "I had nothing left to win and could only lose. I didn't want to risk anything in order to be able to drive at the front. With the risk that someone would then drive into my car while I was fighting for position."
Dominator in the Swiss Formula 3 Cup
Thus, for once, the team traveled home to Oetwil am See without a race win. Zeller had previously been successful in nine of the twelve races. But because the other Swiss didn't do any better in Hungary, the soon-to-be 28-year-old decided both separate classifications of the Swiss Formula 3 Cup, which is supported by Horag Hotz Racing, in his favor. Only at Mugello (Antoine Bottiroli), where he was outpaced by an Italian, and at Brno (Kurt Böhlen) did someone else win.
Bottiroli fell slightly short of his expectations with two fifth-place finishes and a technical retirement. At best, the Geneva native could still have been runner-up, but is now only fourth behind Italy's Andrea Cola (winner of race 3) and Czech Tom Beckhäuser (winner of races 1 and 2). Cola also won the Italian F2 Trophy ahead of Bottiroli. Marcel Tobler finished a respectable fourth overall and third in Formula Cup in the third Hungarian race, Kurt Böhlen was not at the start.
Trophy victory to Florian Münger
In the Trophy for Formula 3 cars built up to 2007, Florian Münger drove the 2018 Dallara F306-Volkswagen driven by Sandro Zeller to two race wins. In doing so, he secured the title in this sub-ranking in his second racing car season.
If Jo Zeller Racing had not made the long journey, the overall victory would have gone to the more experienced Italian Luca Iannaccone. So from that point of view, the effort was worth it for the Swiss team.
Drexler Automotive Formula Cup 2019 Swiss Formula 3 Cup 2019
