Slalom Bure: Egli wins, Eugster sighs 🎥
FOURTH WIN IN JURA Under pressure from local hero Salomon, Philip Egli took his fourth win of the season in the Bure slalom. Podium contender Lukas Eugster retired with engine damage. Already in both training runs on the longest course of the year (5255 meters, 110 gates) Philip Egli put a gap of more than three seconds between himself and Jean-Marc [...]
Already in both practice runs on the longest course of the year (5255 meters, 110 gates), Philip Egli put a gap of more than three seconds between himself and Jean-Marc Salomon, who was contesting his first slalom of the 2019 season in the Tataus-Honda Formula Master. After a safe first race run and a lead of still 2.25 seconds over the local hero, the man from Glarus at the wheel of his Dallara EPR-1 went a few tenths faster than last year, while Salomon failed to set a valid time.
Fourth victory at the anniversary race
This was the 32nd time in his career that Egli had been celebrated as the day's winner and the fourth time at the Bure slalom, which was being held for the 50th time, after 2014, 2016 and 2018.
Philip Egli: "You never know with Salomon, so I went one better in the second run. It wasn't flawless, which isn't possible on such a long course, but it was still faster than last year. Therefore I am satisfied, it can go on like this."
It probably will, at least in Romont. Absent in Bure because of his trip to the TT on the Isle of Man, arch-rival Marcel Maurer prefers the hill climb Hemberg on the same date.
First failure of Lukas Eugster
After three slaloms that went very well for him with the newly acquired Ligier sports car, Lukas Eugster learned the downside of the medal. In the first training run, the screw of the alternator bracket broke, whereupon the V-belt of the water pump stopped turning and the Honda engine ran hot.
After the repair, the man from Herisau started the second attempt, but then discovered a blown cylinder head gasket. The decision not to start meant a zero, whereupon he was eliminated from the top SM group.
Lukas Eugster: "Yes, I am very disappointed. The goal was to beat Salomon here, which was more realistic than winning the day. I hope we can fix the engine by Romont."
Michael Helm's first podium
Third place overall went for the first time to Michael Helm in the Tatuus-Abarth F4 Evo. After the first race, Denis Wolf still had one foot on the podium, but his improvement in the Formula Renault Caparo was subsequently less great than that of the Otelfinger in the small turbo race car.
Darani with strong nerves
In the touring car category, Christian Darani and Reto Steiner fought a terrific duel. As in Bière a week ago, the man from Ticino showed nerves of steel by setting the new touring car record time in the Fiat X1/9 after the disqualification in the first run. This was his revenge for Frauenfeld, where Steiner had distanced him by a few hundredths in the Ford Escort RS V6. This time Darani was almost seven tenths ahead.
Third fastest and best of the E1 cars over two liters displacement was Hermann Bollhalder in the Opel Speedster Turbo. Simon Wüthrich, who had decided to start in Bure at short notice and was thus the first contender for the touring car victory, had to charge after practice with a valve failure on his Turbiene (VW Golf II Turbo). His impressive onboard video of the practice session shows the challenging course on the barracks area of Bure.
https://www.facebook.com/TurbieneMotorsport/videos/602267073602038/
Four people still at the top of the table
Although he drove in slow gear, Martin Bürki in the small, low-torque VW Polo 1600 achieved the fourth-best touring car time, ninth overall, which he himself considered sensational.
Martin Bürki: "The goal was twenty more points. With a front-wheel drive car, you risk technical damage on this track, so I spared everything I could, but still drove with concentration and as fast as was reasonable. I'm more than satisfied."
The defending champion can also be satisfied with the standings. With Egli, Thöni and Zwahlen, Bürki continues to lead the standings at the halfway point of the championship without a loss. Hanspeter Thöni won again with his Peugeot 106 in the group N/ISN up to 1600, Christoph Zwahlen in the Opel Kadett C GT/E in the Interswiss up to three liters.
Zwahlen was lucky that the damaged engine (cylinder head gasket) survived the first race run and that this slower time than in practice was enough against his class colleagues. Faster than him was in the group IS as already in Bière Jürg Ochsner in the two-liter Cadet, which took away last year's slalom runner-up Manuel Santonastaso (BMW 320) thereby again five SM points.
gvi-timing.ch/documents/pdf/2019/bure/Scratch%20NAT.pdf
gvi-timing.ch/documents/pdf/2019/bure/NAT.pdf
