Renault Cup: Duel among friends
SLALOM INTERLAKEN In the first slalom, Philipp Krebs and René Schnidrig restored the hierarchy in the Renault Classic Cup. Hockenheim double winner Patrick Gerber went down. Philipp Krebs and René Schnidrig had followed the Renault Classic Cup opener a week ago in Hockenheim from a distance. At the Interlaken slalom, they took their Clios back to the [...]
Philipp Krebs and René Schnidrig had followed the opening round of the Renault Classic Cup a week ago in Hockenheim from afar. At the Interlaken slalom, they got back into the action with their Clios and confirmed the new ranking after the class change of champion Denis Wolf.
In practice, the runner-up in his Clio II Cup was just six hundredths ahead of his 2018 third-placed friend in the more modern Clio RS III. In the first race run, Krebs then set a clear best time of 1'48.68, which he improved to 1'48.46 in his second attempt.
Schnidrig misses the chance
Meanwhile, Schnidrig first touched a gate with a rear-view mirror, whereupon he slowed down a bit in the second run in order to get over the course without any faults. He succeeded perfectly in 1'48.97, coming within half a second of the leader.
René Schnidrig: "There would have been a chance to beat Philipp here. But the important thing is that I'm getting closer and closer to him."
Uncertainty in cancer
Schnidrig's last victory dates back to the 2022 season with the Renault Mégane. A defeat against him would not have surprised Krebs.
Philipp Krebs: "I had some jitters after the training. René trained for two days in Ambri, and I was also allowed to drive his car. In addition, there are sections here where the Clio IIIs are a bit better. But it was just about enough."
Second podium of the season for Zbinden
After the technical misfortune of Borer and Zbinden in Hockenheim, who were unable to score points there as expected, the start of the season thus clearly went in Krebs' favor. For cost and material reasons, he and Schnidrig will also forgo the summer race in Hockenheim and concentrate on the hill climbs.
Taking penalties into account, Meverick Gerber was in second place after the first run, just ahead of Stephan Zbinden. The latter got slightly off track in the first run and, after a noticeably good drive, also briefly missed the racing line in the final section of the track in the second run. Nevertheless, Zbinden edged Gerber off the podium by one second, which he had already occupied in Race 2 at Hockenheim.
From hero to zero
Patrick Gerber, on the other hand, experienced a complete collapse. The double winner of Hockenheim found himself in last position after the two slalom runs without any scoring errors.
Patrick Gerber: "Slaloms are not really my thing. I was already last here last year, so the goal was actually not to be again..."
At least he no longer has to torture himself with this thought until the finale in Ambri and can concentrate on the first hillclimb races in Hemberg (June 15/16) and Reitnau (June 30). With 60 points, Patrick Gerber remains at the top of the standings, followed by cousin Meverick and Thomas Zürcher, who only competes in circuit races with his Clio IV.
Mistakes with consequences
After their second class places from Hockenheim, Michael Schläpfer (Clio II) and Pirmin Scheidegger (Clio RS III) had to settle for 6th and 7th behind Mathias Walliser (Clio RS III). Both failed in the first run, whereupon they had to come through cleanly in the second. Marc Beyeler (Clio RS III), on the other hand, only managed the first run without any faults, which was only enough for 9th place behind Hans Sigrist (Clio II) and in front of Gerber, who finished last.
