24H Series: Master of slowness 🎥
BORN AND AUTORAMA CELEBRATE At the 12 Hours of Pergusa, Autorama/Wolf-Power and Miklas Born secured the European 24H Series titles with a deliberately conservative strategy. Tele Z reports in four minutes how the renewed success of the Swiss team came about. What this TV report mentions in passing in the interview with team boss Stefan Tanner [...]
Tele Z reports in four minutes how the renewed success of the Swiss team came about.
What this TV report mentions in passing in the interview with team boss Stefan Tanner proved to be the golden key to success. The almost five-kilometer circuit on Lago di Pergusa in Enna, Sicily, with its high curbs is hard on the material - especially in an endurance race. And Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing knew how to manage this cleverly.
Far journey to Sicily
The 12 Hours of Pergusa came into the calendar only in the course of the Corona conditioned date and track damage by the Dutch organizers of the 24H Series. This revived the Coppa Florio - one of the oldest car races in history (from 1905) - which was last held in 1981.
In addition to the GT3 drivers Calamia, Stürzinger and Pampanini, who finished 4th and 6th overall and on the class podium, only Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing traveled to Sicily from Switzerland with a VW Golf GTI TCR in a minimal line-up.
Stefan Tanner drove the van with trailer himself and solo from Wetzikon to Enna and then back again 1700 kilometers on Monday. His strategic helpers Ferruccio Finkbohner and Patrick Liechti were not on site this time, but constantly connected by radio and telephone.
Please do not rob
Their pilots Fabian Danz, Miklas Born and Constantin Kletzer gave them the greatest pleasure not only with their consistency but above all by following instructions. For it was this that culminated in another touring car victory and the early title win.
Stefan Tanner: "With only four TCR competitors, things looked easy, but they were not. Because we came here to win the European classification already. But to do that, my drivers had to deliberately drive slower than they would have been able to, because otherwise the car wouldn't have lasted."
When the class leaders had a two-lap lead after four hours, the cautious strategy did not seem to work. But then the Dutchmen with their Cupra TCR traded an unassailable gap due to slips and defects, while the Swiss car, which had been in last place at the start, finished the first half of the race on Saturday evening with an already comfortable lead.
Sunday's part was then practically just a formality. The two Swiss and the Austrian continued to do their laps in a well-behaved manner and with minimum impact on the material - with best times that were one to two seconds higher than those of the two competitors who also finished behind.
Miklas Born at first go champion
The reward was all the greater. Amid twelve GT teams, the touring car winning trio drove to eighth place overall.
Miklas Born took his second category win after the 24H Portimão. And because he was the only one to also stand on the podium with the team in Dubai, Monza and Hockenheim, he is the early winner of the European Drivers' and Juniors' Championship.
The 18-year-old from Basel thus replaces Fabian Danz, who won title honors in 2019. A great success for the previous kart driver in his first automotive season.
Last decision in a month
The alliance of Zurich and Schwyz is also already the "European champion" in the team ranking. What should and can now follow, as in the previous year, is winning the Championship of the Continents. Due to the lack of races overseas, this will be decided in mid-November at the 12H Zandvoort in the Netherlands, which is also being held for the first time.
Because the task on the Dutch dune circuit will be much more difficult and then only solvable at full throttle, all three TCR cars will then be entered by Autorama.
