Suzuki Cup: The title is almost already taken

There is no one in the Suzuki camp who doubts Marcel Muzzarelli's title win anymore. Anyone who only manages first and second places in the most fiercely contested one-make cup of recent years deserves the crown without envy.

In the Chamblon Slalom, the Graubünden native from Amriswil TG was just four thousandths of a second short of his fourth win of the season in the sixth race. Nevertheless, he was absolutely satisfied with it.

Marcel Muzzarelli: "A small overshift is already enough for the time loss. But at least it didn't affect the championship, because the result depended on Simeon Schneider."

Schneider's chances of winning the title have diminished
With the aforementioned sixth-place finisher recording his worst result to date, Muzzarelli increased his lead to 16 points at the summer break. In theory, two seventh-place finishes are enough for the clear championship leader to win the title if Simeon Schneider wins twice more.

The Romont winner, however, has practically written off the title, although he will return to the site of this success at the Drognens slalom, the next race on September 21, where he will be the favorite.

Simeon Schneider: "Marcel is almost uncatchable. I'm not giving up, but my goal now is the runner-up title. If it hadn't been for two shifting errors in Chamblon, the second race in Chamblon would have been perfect for a place on the podium. But this way Fabian has now come very close to me again in the championship."

Eggenberger can still do it
With his longed-for first victory in the Suzuki Swiss Racing Cup, the man from Zurich reduced the gap to Schneider from nine to just two points.

Fabian Eggenberger: "If Muzz doesn't cork it himself, then the rest of us are just fighting for second place at the end. The championship was no longer my top priority before Chamblon anyway. First I wanted a win. Now I know that I haven't forgotten it after all. This time not only the feeling was right, but also the time."

The fastest thought too much
The times would have been especially good for Christian Zimmermann. The 43-year-old from Glarus was the fastest in all runs - unfortunately, he made a mistake in the decisive final run.

Christian Zimmermann: "It's my own fault. I had thought too much at that point and promptly hit the pylon. All I had to do was drive through the gate as I had done in the previous runs... Finally, I was able to move my car as I had trained. I'm now clear in my head and have ticked off the championship."

Fehr at least still wants to be runner-up
Sandro Fehr thinks similarly, although unlike Zimmermann he still has a good chance of finishing second in the table. Only seven points separate him from Schneider.

He also touched a pylon in the second run at Chamblon, but fourth place was still not to be taken away from him. Because the hobby speleologist lowered his expectations somewhat, he was satisfied with this. However, Fehr knows that he still has to put in "two really good performances" to become runner-up or third.

Even a master never stops learning
For once, Martin Bürki remained below his expectations. Even as a six-time slalom champion, you can learn something new in the Suzuki Cup, where he drove the Flammer Speed Team car, as he did in Romont. Which he always emphasizes anyway. Instead of the podium he was clearly aiming for, he only managed a fifth place.

Martin Bürki: "I definitely drove too fine and too clean. But I couldn't rape the car. When I saw a black cloud before the first run, I drove for safety and too well-behaved. I misjudged and then didn't get back to my high 3'36 time from practice in the second run."

However, this too would not have put him on the podium, but only ahead of Sandro Fehr. After the summer break, however, Bürki will certainly be counted on again in Drognens.

Santonastaso in midfield, Schneider 2 still doing well
His SM opponent Manuel Santonastaso also ventured into the lions' den and alternated with Zimmermann at the wheel for this purpose. Although "Santi" improved to a time of 3'42, even with tips from various colleagues, he only finished in 18th place.

Best of the Rest was once again Daniel Schneider in seventh place, displacing Ralf Henggeler (11th) from seventh place in the standings. As in Romont, Mario Diethelm finished eighth, this time ahead of Jürg Jucker and Jean-Claude Debrunner.

Constant battle in the midfield
While Gilbert Denzer lost five positions from practice (8th) to the race (13th) (after a gate failure in race 1), Stefan Böhlen managed his first respectable success in twelfth place. In the past years, he drove a Formula Renault or Norma sports car. On the other hand, Rolf Tremp (15th) dropped to midfield after his great sixth place at Romont, as did Heiko Leiber (14th) and Roland Graf (22nd).

Alexandra Mühlethaler, who was also the fastest of the four women in Chamblon in 27th place, shows a similar consistency to Marcel Muzzarelli. Her goal now is to make it into the top 15 in one of the last two races, for which there are more than the two points for all those classified behind. Only 21 of the 41 riders registered so far have managed this.

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