Hill climb: ASS names national team 🎥
FIA HILL CLIMB MASTERS In mid-October, an FIA Masters in hillclimb racing will be held for the third time in Gubbio (I). Switzerland will be at the start with a small, top-class team in individual classifications and in the Nations Cup. After Eschdorf (L) in 2014 and Ecce Homo (CZ) in 2016, there will be a third [...]
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After Eschdorf (L) in 2014 and Ecce Homo (CZ) in 2016, there will be a third FIA Hill Climb Masters from October 12 to 14, 2018. This grand finale with the best hillclimb racers in Europe will be hosted by the Italians in Gubbio in the province of Umbria.
The legendary Alfa factory driver Luigi Fagioli lived in Gubbio for a long time. In his honor, the local automobile club has been holding a mountain race called "Trofeo Luigi Fagioli" since 1966. This year it counted towards the Italian hill-climbing championship.
Only the best per country
The FIA Hill Climb Masters is an invitation race. Interested drivers had to qualify via the results in their national championships.
Those who did not manage to do so could apply to the FIA for a wild card. This was granted to Reto Meisel and Fabien Bouduban.
The 2016 Swiss champion will compete in Group E2-SH with his Mercedes SLK340, while the Jurassic driver, who competes in the European Mountain Championship with Team Faggioli, will use the Norma F20 FC PKP (with a Nissan turbo engine) entered in the Pikes Peak hill climb in June.
Withdrawal of Bratschi
The five other drivers from Switzerland in the touring cars are Thomas Kessler and Roger Schnellmann (both Mitsubishi Evo 8), Frédéric Neff (Porsche 996 GT3 R) and Michel Zemp (Seat Cupra TCR). Ronnie Bratschi had to withdraw his entry because his employer in Uri urgently needs him in mid-October.
In the racing cars, Swiss champion Steiner Marcel in the LobArt-Mugen is the second country representative. Eric Berguerand, gold medal winner in Luxembourg four years ago, will not be taking part for reasons of time and cost.
Medals in four categories
Medal sets will be awarded in four categories with combined groups. While Steiner will face professionals such as European champions Merli and Faggioli as well as France's champion Petit in Cat. 2, Schnellmann and Kessler are among the favorites for a medal with their E1 Mitsubishi in Cat. 3 Open Production Cars.
As is usual in France or England, the fastest running time of three runs counts. The Italians and the British with their partly methanol-powered mountain monoposti from the Cat. Open Single Seater are among the first contenders for the day's victory.
In the Nations Cup, four riders must be fast and consistent
Four of the seven pilots will represent Switzerland in the Nations Cup. Neff, Schnellmann and Bouduban already won the silver medal in this classification in 2016. So they know how the hare runs. Steiner joins them for the first time. The first substitute pilot is Zemp. Team captain is Patrick Falk, the director of Auto Sport Schweiz (ASS).
20 nations, including exotics such as Kosovo and Greece, are competing for the Nations Cup. This has the character of a uniformity test. It is not the addition of the three best times of the four riders per country that is taken into account, but the time difference of each nominated rider within the classification runs.
In principle, every nation has a real chance of winning a medal. Experience so far shows that the countries with the fastest pilots will prevail here as well.
We will look at the most interesting drivers and cars in the field and the chances of the Swiss in another preview in the previous week.
500 kilometers from Chiasso
From the Swiss border in Chiasso it is exactly 500 kilometers to Gubbio. From there, it takes less than an hour and a half to reach the Adriatic coast near Ancona.
For friends of hillclimb racing, an autumn holiday trip to the south is just the thing.
