Lotus V6 Cup: Season starts with new winner
ZUWACHS With 16 drivers, the Lotus V6 Cup Suisse started its third season at the Interlaken slalom. The day's victory by Dino Wintsch was less surprising than the success of a newcomer in the production cars. Since 2017, Lotus-West AG from St. Gallen has been running a Cup for all owners of a Lotus V6. This has since enjoyed [...]
Since 2017, Lotus-West AG from St. Gallen has been offering a Cup for all owners of a Lotus V6. Since then, this has enjoyed increasing popularity. Only the Exige and Evora models with the lusty 3.5-liter V6 engines from Toyota are eligible, divided into the Production and Competition classes from 2019. From this season, standard tires from Yokohama (type A052 semislicks) are also mandatory.
Customers of other Lotus dealers are also invited to participate in the privately organized one-make cup. At the season opener in Interlaken, 16 of these beautiful flounders competed in various colors. A total of 21 drivers are registered for the 2019 season.
Wintsch shows the master
Once again, Dino Wintsch was the fastest in his Exige Sport 430 from the racing class. After he was not yet satisfied during the slalom test days in Ambri, Lotus-West quickly gave his sports car, which is also permitted on the road, a more pointed chassis, the qualities of which last year's series winner was able to skillfully implement.
Gregory Künzler, who was sent into the race by Garage Jensen, came in second with the Evora 410 Sport, which is better suited for circuits and fast mountain slaloms because of its heavier weight and longer wheelbase, 4.5 seconds ahead of Wintsch.
Piccinato with a new Evora GT
For the first time Giuliano Piccinato appeared with an Evora instead of Exige, got along with it already well and lost in the better of the two runs on the 2.7 km long course only 54 hundredths on Künzler. His car is a 430 GT with slightly more downforce and 20 hp more power.
Newcomer Heinz Wiese, formerly active in the Mini Challenge, came fourth with the Exige Sport 410 taken over from Cup initiator Norbert Sieber with a respectable distance ahead of newcomer Peter A. Huber in a new Exige 430 Cup. Cup initiator Sieber himself experienced a day to forget after committing gate errors in both runs and failing to score.
Patrick Egger came, saw and won
There was a new winner in the ten-car series class. Patrick Egger, Ford sales manager at Autozentrum West in St. Gallen, demonstrated perfect handling of the Exige 350 in his first Lotus race, coached by company colleague Norbert Sieber. After all, he left veteran Reto Sieber in the Exige Sport 380 behind by more than two seconds.
With a lead of 14 hundredths over defending champion Benno Berchtold, René Suter (both Exige 350) snatched third place on the podium. He and his son Mirko Suter in 8th place were separated by just 2.10 seconds, reflecting the battle for positions in the dense midfield. It will be no less fierce at the next race on April 27 in Frauenfeld.
