After a one-year forced break, the racing engines roared again on the Frauenfeld Allmend in July 2021. However, spectators were not yet permitted for various reasons.

Please come in!
It is with all the greater pleasure that the ACS Thurgau Section, as the organizer of the 22nd Frauenfeld Auto Race Days, welcomes the public to its traditional event next Saturday and Sunday, May 14-15 - and admission is free. In addition, beautiful early summer weather is announced. Ideal conditions therefore.

Visitors can move freely in the signposted zones and, as usual, enjoy refreshments at various catering stands. They will also be informed about everything worth knowing about the race by the two accomplished course announcers Christian Mettler and Marcel Muzzarelli.

A new track record is in the air
The event counts as the second round of the Swiss Slalom Championship. The season opener took place on May 1 on the arms course of Bière and ended once again with the day's victory of Philip Egli.

With his ideal Dallara race car, the Glarner, who lives in Zurich, is aiming for his seventh consecutive victory in Frauenfeld. Last year, Egli needed two minutes and 96 hundredths for the 3.2-kilometer course with 49 gates. Since his run had not been perfect then, the two-minute mark could fall on Sunday.

Two instead of three challengers
As in Vaud, the day's victory will be contested by Lukas Eugster from Appenzell in a Ligier-Honda sports car and Yves Hängärtner from Biel in a Dallara-Egmo GP3. For Eugster, the Frauenfeld Auto Race Days are virtually a home game.

The driver from Herisau is eager for his first win of the day, having already finished second or third on the podium eight times. And Hängärtner immediately showed the potential of the 500-horsepower race car on slalom courses in Bière. In the top speed measurement at the end of the long start straight, the 46-year-old from Biel should definitely be in front.

Unfortunately, last year's runner-up cancelled the planned first start of the season with his Tatuus-LRM F4 at short notice. The Thurgau native had set his sights on nothing less than a home victory.

Joel Burgermeister: "We have to go over the books again on the engine. I don't want to come to Frauenfeld with a half-finished car. I'd rather do without and do everything I can to be ready for the mountain season.

Gala of the touring car drivers
In the touring car category, Simon Wüthrich in a VW Golf Turbo 4WD is the favorite on the partly winding course. As usual, defending champion Martin Bürki in a VW Polo, runner-up Christian Darani in a Fiat X 1/9, local hero Christoph Zwahlen in a Porsche 997 GT3, Bruno Ianniello in a Lancia Delta S4 and Hermann Bollhalder in an Opel Speedster are also contenders for top times. A Swiss slalom premiere is provided by Michael Widmer with his first start in a Hyundai i30 TCR.

The Renault Classic Club is holding the third round of the season with its Clio II, III and IV cars, which are divided into three classes. The first two races in the "Prize of the City of Stuttgart" in Hockenheim three weeks ago both times Thomas Zürcher won just ahead of Denis Wolf.

Two chances for the Muzzarelli opponents
More than 300 participants have registered for the two race days. During the LOC event on Saturday, points will be contested for the fiercely contested Suzuki Swiss Racing Cup and the Porsche Slalom Cup. The Suzuki will hold separate races in the morning and afternoon. Defending champion and Bière winner Marcel Muzzarelli is also on the organizing committee.

In addition, there will again be a uniformity test for historic vehicles. The aim is not to achieve the best times, but to keep the deviation between the two running times as small as possible.

Oldtimer-Höck on Sunday morning
On Sunday from 9 to 11 a.m. a classic car get-together will take place on the occasion of the Auto-Renntage Frauenfeld 2022. Welcome are all classic car owners who arrive with their jewel and look forward to spending a few gasoline-soaked and informal hours among like-minded people.

Registration for this is not required, the number of participants is limited to a maximum of 100 vehicles. Admission to this social event is also free of charge.

Further information before and after the event is continuously available on the homepage of the ACS Thurgau.

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As the highlights of the second World Endurance Championship round show, the many thousands of spectators along the Circuit de Spa-Francochamps witnessed quite a turbulent race. It started in beautiful spring weather and turned into partly chaotic conditions as a result of the onset of rain.

Six racing hours in intervals
Toyota Gazoo Racing's two hypercars only started from the second row, while Glickenhaus took pole position for the first time with his car powered by a Pipo turbo engine from France.

After a total of three red flag stoppages and six caution periods due to rides and accidents involving various competitors, the Japanese nevertheless celebrated their sixth consecutive victory on the Ardennes circuit. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López completed only 103 laps = 720 kilometers - last year, in ideal conditions, the sister car with Sébastien Buemi completed 1134 kilometers or 162 laps.

Annoyance for Buemi, jubilation for Alpine
This time the car of the Vaudois stopped on the track at the beginning of the second hour of racing with a problem in the hybrid system. After 15 laps of lead work by the Glickenhaus, the number #8 had taken the lead until the failure at the restart after the first race interruption.

As both Toyota teams have one retirement each after two races, the Alpine ELF team, which won at Sebring in March, extended its lead at the top of the world championship standings with second place. The French will therefore come to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in mid-June as leaders.

Müller and Delétraz in midfield
The LMP2 teams with Nico Müller and Louis Delétraz had chances of a class podium, but rides without serious consequences threw their cars back to 7th (Delétraz) and 10th (Müller). Class victory and third overall went to the successful Belgian team WRT with the Oreca driven to the finish by former DTM champion René Rast.

In fourth place, aviation entrepreneur Thomas Flohr missed the podium in the LMGTE Am class with his two professional partners Castellazzi and Cassidy on the Ferrari by just 28.2 seconds.

Fifth in a private Porsche team, Niki Leutwiler scored his first ten points in the FIA Trophy for GT drivers. Under the most difficult conditions, his car even led the LMGTE Am class for a while.

Niki Leutwiler: "At one point of the track it was dry, at another it was raining cats and dogs. A short time later it was the other way around - I've never experienced anything like it."

Rahel Frey received two new partners at Iron Lynx at short notice due to the corona infection of a teammate, with whom the Solothurn driver finished 10th. Strongly fourth in qualifying, Christina Nielsen was already turned around in the first corner and handed to the end of the field. From there, the women's trio worked their way back up a few positions.

Two rookie wins for Alexander Fach
In the run-up to the FIA WEC, there were two 30-minute sprint races for the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. Alexander Fach had a brilliant start to the season. The 20-year-old from Schwyz finished 13th and 12th in the field of 32 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup cars and took victory in the hotly contested rookie classification on both occasions.

His Fach Auto teammate Lorcan Hanafin, among others, had challenged him for the title. After spinning in the first race on Friday evening (5th), the Briton of the same age made the double victory of the two Fach Juniors perfect on Saturday.

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We have already reported on the racing action in the top GT3 class. There was also plenty of variety in the GT4 classes and in the Open GT group.

Double winner in the new Cayman
In the overall standings of the GT4 Clubsport group, two participants led the classification with the new 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. Valerio Presezzi had set the best qualifying time with the 500-hp mid-engine race car and had driven to victory in both races ahead of Paolo Locatelli.

In the hotly contested Class 10 GT4 Clubsport group for the 425-hp Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport with MR package, "Gioga" was only just able to keep Antonio Spavone at bay - in the end, the two were separated by a mere 0.522 seconds. Spavone had been able to fight his way past the lightning-fast Markus Lietzau again on the sixth of 16 laps.

Class victory for an Austrian
The first race in the pure 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport models was particularly entertaining - here, Lena Knötzl was ahead in the end. First, the Austrian had lost her early lead to David Henn on the sixth lap, and a little later she even slipped behind Renzo Kressig to third place.

In the twelfth round, however, the local hero restored the old order and won Class 11 ahead of Kressig as well as Andreas Greiling. As the only participant with the Porsche Cayman GT4 previous generation, Stefan Kipfer drove to 13th place out of 20 starters.

In the second race, Antonio Spavone (gallery left) emerged as a commanding winner in Class 10. "Boga", who had taken over the 718 Cayman GT4 with MR package from "Gioga", had dropped to the back of the field right on the first lap.

Second place went to Giovanni Naldi, who had improved by five positions but also benefited from a five-second penalty for Markus Lietzau for overstepping the track boundary.

In Class 11, Lena Knötzl (center gallery) had to admit defeat to Jens Richter. The German had already scampered past the Austrian in the starting lap and was 1.6 seconds ahead at the finish.

Applause for Calderari and Feigenwinter
In the Open GT group, racing legend Enzo Calderari was the first to be celebrated as the winner in his 991 II GT3 R, followed by Austrian Johannes Kapfinger in a 992 GT3 Cup.

Andy Feigenwinter, the 2019 Swiss touring car mountain champion, placed third overall and second in his class on the podium in both races. His original ten-year-old 997 GT3 R was the oldest model in the field of 28 sports cars.

A true master of regularity
Nicolas Garski continued at the wheel of his standard 911 GT3 in the Porsche Drivers Competition Suisse just as he had left off at the end of last season. New from the 2022 season is that there will be a second race on each of the six race weekends.

Garski's four laps in the first round differed by just 0.24 seconds from his own average time. Second place went to Xavier Penalba, who was hardly less precise at the wheel of his 911 GT3 RS with a difference of 0.94 seconds.

In the second run, for which nine of ten timed laps on the track counted as before, Nicolas Garski remained unbeaten and won the competition with a difference of just 1.31 seconds ahead of Penalba. It was the eighth victory in a row for the defending champion.

porsche.com/swiss/en

The 5.412 km long track was specially designed for Formula 1 in the northern district of Miami Gardens. The glamorous location certainly rivals Monaco - the American owners of Formula 1 send their regards. The animation illustrates the course of the track and the diverse infrastructure for the fans.

Around a famous sports venue
The temporary Miami International Autodrome runs around the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and includes twelve left turns and seven right turns. The layout is interesting because it offers many slow corners and also many very fast ones, but not very many in the middle section. There are also several long straights and three DRS zones.

As this is a circuit that has never been driven on before, all the teams and their drivers had to prepare for it on the computer and in simulators.

Alfa Romeo Sauber can hope for more points
Under normal circumstances, the fifth round of the world championship is unlikely to change anything in the hierarchy - in other words, Red Bull and Ferrari will decide the winner between themselves. After Valtteri Bottas' brilliant fifth-place finish in Imola, Alfa Romeo Sauber is also hoping for continuity when it comes to placings in the championship points.

Swiss television will report live from qualifying late Saturday evening, May 7, on the third channel SRF info from 9:55 p.m. to 11:10 p.m. and on Sunday evening, May 8, from 8:50 p.m. to 11:25 p.m. from the Miami Grand Prix. Commentators are Oliver Sittler and Marc Surer.

WEC and Porsche Cup in front of new grandstands at Spa
The second round of the World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) will take place at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday. The facility was extensively renovated and expanded for the 2022 season. However, nothing has changed in terms of track length and layout.

New gravel beds and grandstands were built at numerous curves. In the gallery on the left, the view from the race track to the new grandstand of Eau-Rouge, in the gallery on the right, the view from this grandstand to the circuit.

Completely live on TV
With Sébastien Buemi (Toyota Hypercar), Louis Delétraz, Nico Müller (both Oreca LMP2), Rahel Frey, Thomas Flohr, Christoph Ulrich (all Ferrarri 488 GTE) and Nicolas Leutwiler (Porsche 911 RSR), several Swiss with different ambitions and prospects of success are at the start of the second WRC round in 2022. At the season opener in mid-March in Sebring (USA), the Alpine ELF Team won for the first time over Toyota.

The 6-hour race can be followed in full on Saturday, May 7, on the free TV channel RTL Nitro. Broadcasting begins at 12:40 p.m. (race start 1 p.m.), ending after the highlights at 7:25 p.m. On Sunday morning, May 8, Eurosport 1 will broadcast a summary from 8:30 to 10 a.m.

Alexander Fach ahead of second season premiere
This year's first races of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland will be run on Friday (start at 5.20 p.m.) and Saturday (start at 10.55 a.m.) in the pre-WEC program. Fach Auto Tech from Schwyz is involved with the Swiss Porsche Cup champion Alexander Fach, the Briton Lorcan Hanafin and the German senior Christof Langer.

After the encouraging debut in the Supercup at Imola (16th), Fach jr. is also hoping for a good result at Spa. As an excellent sixth (Hanafin) and twelfth (Fach) in Friday afternoon's qualifying, the two 20-year-olds created a very good starting position as the best rookies in the 32-strong field. Without a red flag, Fach, who was on his fastest lap when the race was prematurely stopped, would also have been in with a chance of a top-10 start.

Both races can be seen live on RTL Nitro or on YouTube can be tracked. In addition, there is a video of all the races at Spa. Livetiming.

Nürburgring GT3 premieres from Apothéloz and Mettler
At the ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers, participants in the big Nordschleife marathon held at the end of May have the last opportunity to bring their competition cars and driver crews to the Nordschleife under competition conditions. More than 90 teams take advantage of this opportunity, including some drivers from Switzerland.

For Julien Apothéloz and Yannick Mettler, this is even the first opportunity to familiarize themselves with a Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the legendary circuit. The winner of the 2018 Young Driver Challenge has been an official Young Talent of AMG-Mercedes Motorsport since this year and drives in the Landgraf Motorsport team, the former VLN GT4 champion with Schnitzelalm Racing.

On Saturday, the first three-hour race will start at 6:30 p.m., and on Sunday, the second race will start at 2 p.m.. Both will be held on the YouTube channel and the Homepage of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring broadcast live.

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24h-race.com

Normally the best in the Suzuki Swiss Racing Cup are only separated by fractions of a second, no matter the length of the track. That's how it was on a track layout that was new to everyone last Saturday in Bière - at least until after the first race run.

The challengers initially stayed on the ball
As already after the training Marcel Muzzarelli was ahead of Fabian Eggenberger who could reduce the gap from 45 to 37 hundredths. With a driving time of around 185 seconds, Sandro Fehr would also have been well in the mix with a gap of 1.15 without a gate fault.

And Patrick Flammer knew after the somewhat too restrained safety run that there was still more in it. After all, the man from Glarus had won in Ambri in October 2021, proving how fast the new mild hybrid sports car can be in the battle against pure gasoline engines.

The attack fails
But hours later, after the second run, it was all just statistics. Last year's runner-up Eggenberger improved his first time by only six hundredths. Fehr, who started right after him, stayed round two seconds above with a now faultless run.

Immediately afterwards, Flammer realized a net time only five hundredths slower than the leader Muzzarelli in the first race run, but had two gate errors and thus collected a time penalty of 20 seconds.

Demonstration of the master
As one of the last at the start, "Muzz" just learned Eggenberger's time and then drove completely carefree. The result was an improvement of 2.34 seconds, leaving Eggenberger behind by 2.71, Fehr by 4.43 and Flammer by 4.47 seconds.

The always cool-looking defending champion was astonished about this himself.

Marcel Muzzarelli: "It helped to know that Fabian couldn't beat me anymore. I was able to drive very differently and get much more out of the car, although it was close once or twice. Yes, it went well because the others didn't come close either. When the car is in the springs at the front, it has brutal grip."

Envy recognition
Because he had skied too safely in the first run, he wanted too much in the second run, and that resulted in less, Eggenberger explained. The man from Zurich was nevertheless satisfied with second place, as was Fehr with third.

The St. Gallen native could be glad that the track dried so quickly after a rain shower between the two runs, giving him a second chance.

Sandro Fehr: "It was a good match. But where Muzz gets the lead is a mystery. His performance is utopian."

Perplexed competitors
Other competitors expressed similar sentiments. It's just stupid that they can never watch how calmly and obviously more efficiently than them the master drives. Even Michael Béring, who like Rico Thomann and Flammer has a mini-season's experience in handling the new model, saw no country against him.

With a gap of more than five seconds, Béring's performance was sobering, as was the seven seconds of sixth-placed and rather clueless Jean-Claude Debrunner.

Cédric Moulin in Jean-Luc Janz's car was the best of the eight double starters in seventh place, taking turns at the wheel of four Suzukis. Rico Thomann (8th) and Alexander Ullrich (9th) were the best pair on one of the Flammer cars.

Roli Graf (12th) and Rolf Tremp (13th) from Toggenburg fell rather short of their expectations after they were used to top-10 finishes in a previously larger field with up to 30 cars. With gate failures in the first and second heat, Heiko Leiber (with Eggenberger's car) and Gautier Henchoz even experienced a day to forget.

Even masters must learn
The best newcomer was Giuliano Piccinato. The 58-year-old garage owner from Bättwil has three decades of racing experience, contested several one-make cups and was Swiss production car champion in 1993 on a Suzuki Swift GTI.

For reasons of time - work comes first - Piccinato returned to the "old" brand without any test drives. For 14 years, he had never driven such a soft production car, to which he first had to get used.

His conclusion after tenth place among 17 participants was therefore satisfactory despite the gap of 9.25 seconds.

Giuliano Piccinato: "From conversations and video recordings, I know that some of the others drive quite differently. An interesting comparison. But Muzzarelli's time is off the charts. This is already a high league. It's good that I can still improve..."

All the others will have to do the same if they want to beat Marcel Muzzarelli. The next opportunity would be in the two races on Saturday, May 14, as part of the ACS Autorenntage Frauenfeld. But "Muzz" is particularly motivated for his home race...

auto.suzuki.ch/suzuki-swiss-racing-cup

The drivers offered plenty of action in all race fields at the opening round of the Swiss Porsche Cup, as the video shows. The focus was on the first two sprint races for the GT3 Challenge, in which Jasin Ferati collected the most points.

Driving error after long lead
Supported by the Porsche Motorsport Club Suisse and Porsche Schweiz AG, the development driver is a newcomer to GT racing. His career to date has taken the 18-year-old from Winterthur from the Porsche-supported German Electric Kart Championship (DKM), which he won in 2019, via Italian Formula 4 and Formula 3 races to the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup of the 992 model generation.

Even after the start, the trainee automotive mechatronics technician from Winterthur initially stayed ahead in the 23-strong field. Ferati defended his lead in Fach Auto Tech's fastest Porsche until the 13th of 17 laps on the 4.319-kilometer Grand Prix circuit.

However, the rookie then made a small mistake at the restart after a safety car phase and had to give way to Jürg Aeberhard (ANTperformance). For the 35-year-old from Berne, 2014 champion of the Porsche Super Sports Cup Germany, victory after a break from racing was a comeback in style.

Good comeback from "Chälli
Third place in the first race also went to a prominent returnee: Ernst Keller, the 2018 GT3 Cup champion (center gallery). The driver from Regensdorf took over the position from his Sportec teammate Gregor Burkard (Gallery right) on the seventh lap, who also had to let Alexander Schwarzer and Jan Klingelnberg pass due to a driving error..

Schwarzer had fitted new Michelin race tires before the start and therefore started the race from ninth position instead of sixth. His race to catch up took him up to fourth place.

A great feeling for the junior
In the second round of the GT3 Cup, Jasin Ferati showed how quickly he learns: The lightweight chased Jürg Aeberhard ahead of him for 13 laps. After slight contact, he was able to take the lead shortly before the end and claim his first victory with a 1.7-second lead.

Jasin Ferati: "The first Porsche race weekend was a great experience for me. The mistake in the first race is probably part of my learning process. To be on top of the podium after the second sprint on the first race weekend feels great. I will do everything to experience that feeling again."

In the duel for third place, Alexander Schwarzer prevailed over Ernst Keller. Fifth place went to Mike Knutzon (left gallery). The Swede had already moved up three places on the starting lap and valiantly defended his position against Gregor Burkard. Like Schwarzer, Knutzon is a former graduate of the Porsche Racing Experience.

Double victory in the new Cayman GT4
In the GT4 field, Valerio Presezzi prevailed in both races with the new Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. In the Open GT group, race wins went to Enzo Calderari and Johannes Kapfinger. In the Porsche Drivers Competition, defending champion Nicolas Garski continued his success story with two more first places.

We will go into these ratings in a separate report later in the week.

porsche.com/swiss/en

Eric Berguerand was missing because a spare part for the starter engine of his Lola-Cosworth did not arrive in time in Valais via Fedex. But with Yves Hängärtner in the ex-Jenzer-Dallara GP3 with a newly developed turbo engine from Eggenberger Motorenbau and Joël Volluz in the Osella FA30, Philip Egli had two other opponents from the race car class up to three liters displacement who could challenge him for the day's victory.

Three-way fight for fractions of a second
Lukas Eugster was also in top form a good two and a half years after his last slalom start in the Ligier-Honda sports car, although he had to install a less powerful Honda CN engine at short notice.

Thus, after the first race run on the course (4.1 kilometers and 71 gates), which was run in the opposite direction for the first time, only 78 hundredths separated Egli from Hängärtner and 89 from Eugster at the Bière barracks. Their maximum speed was over 200 km/h....

But because his run was anything but clean, Egli knew he could still make gains, which he did. Earlier, Eugster had come only marginally closer to him despite an aggressive run, but thus displaced Hängärtner from second place overall. After a scoring error on the first kilometer, the GP3 driver who had started after Egli and Eugster broke off his final attack.

So Philip Egli celebrated another stage win in his optimal two-liter Dallara - soon to be 40 - this time with a 1.33-second lead over Eugster and 1.51 over Hängärtner.

The air is getting thinner for Egli
However, the man from Glarus is aware that the tide could soon turn in his favor. If not in two weeks in Frauenfeld, where he has been unbeaten for years, then a week later on the faster airfield course in Ambri, where two SM races are taking place at the same time.

In Ticino, Lukas Eugster (left gallery) could make the most of his sports car's aerodynamics and the traction gained thanks to wider Avon racing tires, as could Yves Hängärtner the Egmo power in the rear of the Dallara GP3 (center gallery). The man from Biel started at 400 to 450 hp and was himself surprised at how quickly he got to grips with the new race car without any test drive on dry surfaces.

Joël Volluz (right gallery) also did well in his first start since the Les Rangiers hill climb in August 2019, although he clearly lagged behind the top trio - an Osella FA30 is not designed for slaloms either. His next outing will be in mid-June at the new edition of the La Roche-La Berra hill climb in Gruyère.

Short joy from Christoph Zwahlen
There was also a three-way battle in the touring cars and GT cars. Exactly eight years and eight months since his serious accident at Massongex in 2013, Christoph Zwahlen (lower gallery, left) was again leading a timesheet in the closed race cars. But it did not stop there.

The man from Thurgau experimented with the tires for his Porsche 997 GT3 from the Interswiss group and probably didn't quite reach his best time in practice for other reasons. However, Christian Darani in the Fiat X1/9 from Group E1 (lower gallery center) already beat this in the first race run with the overall eighth-best time of all competitors - bravissimo!

Victory in the E1-2000 class with the largest number of participants ahead of the equally convincing Mathias Schläppi in the much heavier Suzuki Swift S2000 theoretically also gives the Ticino driver the championship lead, as in the event of a points tie - as was the case last time in 2021 - class strength is the deciding factor. The official ranking lists Bernhard Mühlemann in a Ford Focus as the Group E1 winner, but the race car time from the first round is illusory.

Bürki wins despite goal error
Martin Bürki (gallery on the right) also burned a hammer time into the concrete and asphalt track in the second run. Unfortunately, he touched a pylon in the process, but this did not detract from his performance.

Having beaten all the larger-displacement competitors except Darani with the small 1600cc E1 Polo with the previous safety run made him absolutely satisfied. And since his class was already pleasingly full in Bière with the help of some MB teammates, the defending champion remains on the ball in the head-to-head duel with Darani right from the start.

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Flop on Saturday, top on Sunday - the opening round of the 2022 DTM season at the Algarve Circuit in Portimão, Portugal, was a rollercoaster ride of emotions for Nico Müller.

Unrewarded progress on Saturday
Starting the first race in tenth place, he had to park his Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II for safety reasons after three laps as a result of being hit by a competitor with a puncture.

But there were also positives, as the boss of Team Rosberg pointed out afterwards.

Kimmo Liimatainen: "Qualifying went in the right direction even though it didn't look like it. But Nico was the best Audi driver in tenth place and he didn't even have a free lap because of the many cars on the track. With less traffic, fifth or sixth place would have been possible for him."

Beautiful harvest on Sunday
The second day of racing showed that these were not euphemistic words. Nico Müller was the fastest in qualifying for the second race of the season, securing the first championship points of 2022.

At the start, he consistently defended his lead on the inside against Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti. After 33 laps, he was flagged off as the beaming winner of a DTM race with GT3 sports cars for the first time, having previously won ten races with Class 1 touring cars and experienced a disappointing season with just one podium in 2021.

Joy reigns
The runner-up in the 2019 and 2020 championships was naturally delighted with his first DTM victory with a GT3 sports car and the eleventh overall since November 2020 at Hockenheim.

Nico Müller: "Everything went as it should today. We had the right strategy, reacted well to the pit stop of my rival Felipe Fraga and also made a good stop ourselves. Because the tire change was very early, I was a bit nervous in the meantime. In the end I had to do quite a few laps on the second set of tires. This success is particularly nice because we had a lot of problems last year. We worked hard over the winter and have now shown that we're a force to be reckoned with again."

Second overall to the next DTM event
Saturday's race was won by Lucas Auer ahead of German Luca Stolz, both on Mercedes-AMG, and Italian Mirko Bortolotti on Lamborghini. As Auer and Stolz failed to score points on Sunday, Bortolotti leads the DTM classification after Portugal ahead of Nico Müller.

With sixth place in the first race and ninth in the second, Ricardo Feller also scored his first points in one of ABT Sportsline's three Audi cars.

Ricardo Feller: "The balance of my first DTM weekend is positive. I'm very happy to have arrived in the DTM. The races are very competitive. I scored points in both races - that was a solid start to the year on which we can build. But of course it's clear that we want more. And the potential for that is there."

The next two races are scheduled for May 21 and 22 at the Lausitzring.

dtm.com

17 drivers, spread over 13 new Suzuki Swift Sport 48V Hybrid, started on Saturday at the barracks area of Bière for the first race of the 2022 season. The Suzuki Swiss Racing Cup is the first Swiss brand cup with electrically assisted racing vehicles.

Demonstration of the master
Except for Patrick Flammer, Michael Béring and Rico Thomann, who already took part in the three Cup races of the short 2021 season with the new model, these were the first race drives with the sporty mild hybrid. In the process, Marcel Muzzarelli proved that he has already mastered the handling of the newly acquired sports machine.

On the course, which was run in the opposite direction for the first time, with a length of 4.1 kilometers and 77 gate combinations, the man from eastern Switzerland managed a dream time in the second run, which only elicited sheer admiration from his toughest opponents.

While Fabian Eggenberger (gallery left) was still close after the first run with a gap of 37 hundredths, he finally lost more than two and a half seconds - a world tour in this fiercely contested Cup.

Goal errors decide podium places
Second fastest would have been Patrick Flammer (center gallery), who last October in Ambri was the first driver ever to win with hybrid support in the mixed field with the normal gasoline cars. However, due to gate errors, his first time was only good for 4th place.

Sandro Fehr (gallery right) was lucky that the threatening rain clouds only emptied briefly between the first and second heat. So he was able to erase an unnecessary mistake in the first heat with a clean drive and secure third place on the podium.

Background report on the race
The detailed report about the eagerly awaited premiere of the Suzuki Swiss Racing Cup will follow in the course of the next week on our homepage.

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The season preview from DTM series partner Autohero explains everything you need to know about the 2022 season. 29 drivers from 15 nations, most of whom are professionals focused solely on winning, represent a record in the modern era of this former touring car racing series, which began in 2000.

Feller, Müller and Ineichen represent Switzerland
With so many illustrious names, it is unlikely that one driver, team or brand will dominate. This is also ensured by the sophisticated regulations with their Balance of Performance, which brings the six different brands and their best drivers to a common level of performance.

Switzerland is well represented with the two Audi contract drivers Nico Müller (Team Rosberg) and Ricardo Feller (ABT Sportsline) as well as the fast non-professional Rolf Ineichen. With ten race wins and two runner-up titles in 2019 and 2020 in eight DTM seasons, Müller is an old hand, so to speak, and Ricardo Feller is a rookie.

Dealing with the tires as a learning process
However, with his previous successes in GT3 sports cars - victories and championship titles in the GT World Challenge Europe and in the 2021 ADAC GT Masters - the 21-year-old from Aargau is in no way inferior to the 30-year-old from Bern.

The biggest change for him was switching to the Michelin racing tires, which he is not yet very familiar with.

Ricardo Feller: "They work in a different window than the tires I've driven so far and have to be loaded differently. We've already tested a few times, but I'm learning with every set of tires and am constantly developing. But my team already knows the tires from last year and is helping me."

Wait and see, then strike
His expectations ahead of the DTM premiere, which is the fulfillment of a dream for him, are therefore not too high.

Ricardo Feller: "After the test drives, I can't really assess where I currently stand. That's why I want to wait and see. Of course, every driver wants to win in the DTM, but in my situation it's unrealistic to say that I want to win the title. That is definitely my goal, but it will certainly be difficult in the first year."

Müller with the best training time in Portugal
It was already difficult for Nico Müller in last year's disappointing season. That is now in the past. He has done more testing with the team in recent months than in the winter of 2020/21 and, in his opinion, has taken a few steps in the right direction.

The best time of the day in free practice on Friday at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão seems to confirm this.

Nico Müller: "The feeling compared to the old car is much better. On the one hand, the Evo package, but on the other hand, we have also made some steps in the right direction as a team. However, we mustn't forget that the competition hasn't been sleeping either, so we won't see where we really stand until the first qualifying session at the earliest. For me personally, the goal is to fight for podium places on a regular basis. The starting field in 2022 is even higher class than last year, but we are also better prepared than last season."

Difficult task for Rolf Ineichen
For Rolf Ineichen in one of four Lamborghini Huracáns from GRT Grasser Racing in Austria, however, the objective can only be to hold his own in the midfield. Points, which are awarded for the top 10 according to the tried and tested FIA system (25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1), would be a success, a podium a sensation.

For the first time since his time in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, where the Lucerne native won the amateur classification several times, he also has a car just for himself. However, his long-time team partner and works driver Mirko Bortolotti can certainly give him important tips.

Another field of activity for Sébastien Loeb
Four names deserve special mention at this point. Nine-time world rally champion Sébastien Loeb is taking on a new challenge and competing against the best of the GT scene in the Ferrari 488 from the Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse team.

In Portugal, the 48-year-old Frenchman is standing in for regular driver Nick Cassidy, who is taking part in the Formula E World Championship in Monaco. Points would also be a success for Loeb.

Return of the DTM champion, entry of Schumacher jr.
René Rast, the last multiple champion from the DTM touring car era, is returning to the championship in one of the three new Audi R8s from ABT, making him Ricardo Feller's team-mate.

With the British driver Esmee Hawkey in a Lamborghini, a female racing driver will also be taking part in 2022. And David Schumacher is the son of former GP driver Ralf Schumacher.

Live on TV and Internet
Those who are not there can follow the DTM live in various ways. In German-speaking countries, the 16 races of the season will be broadcast on ProSieben. Live coverage from Portimão starts at 12.30 pm on Saturday, followed by coverage at 1 pm. ServusTV is also extending its coverage.

The most popular German racing series is available on the Internet at Grid DTM to see. Live timing of all DTM events with their respective support races is available here Link, all results of the training sessions and races under this Link.

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