Slalom-SM: Philip Egli misses his opponent

SOLO IN ROMONT After the fifth slalom in Romont, three racers are still without losing points. One is the undisputed winner of the day Philip Egli, who is currently missing his favorite opponent. Since Marcel Maurer preferred the hill climb Hemberg (and achieved his second class win there after the day win in Massongex 2018), Philip Egli had at least at [...]

Editorial - June 17, 2019

Full attack, even without arch-rivals: Philip Egli celebrated the fifth slalom day victory in a row in Romont (Photos: Ramon Hänggi).

Since Marcel Maurer preferred the Hemberg hill climb (and scored his second class win there after the day's victory in Massongex in 2018), Philip Egli had no equal opponent at the Romont slalom, at least in the race cars. On the other hand, Lukas Eugster in the Ligier-Honda sports car disputed the day's victory at the Drognens armory.

Separate duo
While the man from Herisau came relatively close to Egli in the first race, the man from Glarus in the Dallara EPR-1 stepped it up a notch in the second run and celebrated a clear fifth victory of the season with a lead of 3.3 seconds.

Lukas Eugster: "1'54 might have been possible. The Ligier's gearing is far too long. We'll change that over the summer break."

Egli himself has never been so fast on the 2910-meter course (1'52.016). However, the course record of 1'51.377 has been held by Maurer since the September 2018 race (Drognens slalom), which was held in cooler temperatures.

Philip Egli: "We've gotten so used to each other that I miss Marcel a bit. Unfortunately, he will also be missing in Chamblon. Of course, this is good for my situation in the championship. So my victory in Romont was relatively clear, although I had expected a smaller difference to Eugster."

Marcel Maurer and Philip Egli with their trophies after the Interlaken slalom. They will not race against each other again until the Drognens slalom on September 23 and before that at two or three hill climbs (Photo: Peter Wyss).

Touring car victory for "Chico" Darani
Third place overall went to Michael Helm. Already with his first running time, the Otelfinger in the Tatuus-Abarth F4 Evo left Denis Wolf from Hünibach in the borrowed Formula Renault Caparo behind by almost two seconds. Michael's brother Andreas set the fifth fastest time of the day in the TracKing Suzuki before the first touring car driver followed. This was not the first time that his name was Christian Darani, who heaved his Fiat X1/9 around the hairpin bends of the initial mountain section and then around the 39 gates in a fabulous time of 2'02.763.

Bürki drives with head and foot
After a clean and fast first run, Martin Bürki did not take on the Ticino skier again. Taking more risks would probably not have improved his overall ranking and would only have put a strain on his equipment. With two almost identical 2'04 times, the defending champion in the E1 Polo 1600 was the second fastest touring car driver, ahead of the more powerful Fabrice Winiger (Porsche 997 GT3) and Arnaud Murcia (Mitsubishi Evo VII).

Frédéric Yerly likes to return to the national scene at home races. In Romont, he hefted an Alpine A110 around the corners.

Yerly's premiere with Alpine A110
Frédéric Yerly was a welcome change in the field. Otherwise victorious in the VLN in a VW Golf TCR, the man from Freiburg drove an Alpine A110 Cup provided for his home race. Yerly set the eleventh fastest time and won the E1 class up to 3.5 liters ahead of Bruno Ianniello in a Lancia Delta S4. However, the latter only completed one run.

IS victory for "Santi
In the IS group, mainly drivers from French-speaking Switzerland were at the start, because the German-speaking Swiss preferred the Hemberg mountain race, which is part of the IS Trophy. The 2018 slalom runner-up Manuel Santonastaso was thus rid of the strongest opponents and won the group and the two-liter class in a BMW 320 ahead of Thomas Andrey in a Peugeot 405.

Thöni holds the fort
Because Christoph Zwahlen had to forgo the start in Romont due to an engine failure on the E1 Cadet, three drivers now still have a clean slate. Third alongside Bürki and Egli is Hanspeter Thöni, who also won his full class (N/ISN up to 1.6 liters) for the fifth time. With his performance at the wheel of a Peugeot 106 GTi, the driver from Brienz is increasingly emerging as a contender for the 2019 SM podium.

The next test will come next Sunday at the Chamblon armory, where the wheat is usually separated from the chaff. Whoever wins there, too, can go into the summer break with peace of mind.