Suzuki Cup: A race with an aftertaste

CRITICISM AT SLALOM BURE Goal errors and disqualifications in the Suzuki Swiss Racing Cup gave rise to talk at the Slalom Bure. Not even Marcel Muzzarelli's third victory of the season was undisputed. At the slalom of Bure, apparently not everything went with the right things. Track marshals reported gate errors that were not gate errors or that could have been attributed to other riders. Or they [...]

Editorial - May 29 2019

Actually Fabian Eggenberger was the fastest in Bure. After two chalked-up gate errors in the first run, he had to set his second time already with the wipers running (Photos: Ramon Hänggi).

Apparently, not everything went according to the rules in the Bure slalom. Track marshals reported gate errors that were not gate errors or that could have been attributed to other riders. Or they did not write them down. This even affected Marcel Muzzarelli's third win of the season.

First disqualified, then fourth
After the first run, Sandro Fehr saw himself listed as NC on the ranking list, i.e. not classified. Only when the St. Gallen native lodged a protest and proved his innocence with footage from the onboard camera did his fourth-best time count.

Sandro Fehr: "The track marshal who was asked was not so sure, nevertheless he wrote down a gate error. This track is so fast that you notice when you hit a pylon. What happened in Bure should not exist."

Eggenberger's absolute best time
Others could not prove their innocence for lack of video. For example Fabian Eggenberger, who would have been even a touch faster than the eventual winner without a time penalty.

Fabian Eggenberger: "It was really a bombastic first run, with which I could have won in principle. I certainly didn't hit the two chalked-up cones. But I hit another one, which I thundered into after the marshal had dropped it. But it was not noted. It's funny that also none of the competitors who started before me got a goal error noted...".

A hair's breadth past the goal is by no means a mistake. The commissioners saw it differently in the case of Christian Zimmermann in both runs.

Carpenter bruised for top ranking
For Christian Zimmermann, who until the Bure slalom was ranked fifth out of 41 riders in the championship standings, the inexcusable mistakes made by certain marshals even had bitter consequences. In the first run, the man from Glarus was disqualified, and in the second he was penalized ten seconds, even though he had put in a safe and flawless run - only he couldn't prove it on video. Instead of sixth, he was only 24th in the end.

Christian Zimmermann: "In the first run I hit a pylon in the wedel, but I certainly didn't miss a gate. In the second run I skied for safety at the beginning and when it was going well, I stepped on the gas. If anything, I would have made a gate mistake towards the end, not at the beginning as they said. This race would be fun, but not like that..."

Muzzarelli on master course
Everyone agreed on only one thing after the fourth race in Bure: Marcel Muzzarelli, who managed three wins in a row, is now the clear title favorite. Only Fehr was ahead of him once at the premiere in Interlaken.

Sandro Fehr: "Muzz is the best because he's just that little bit better than the rest of us. I compete in a karting cup with him in the team, and he's enormously fast there, too."

Cool Man: Marcel Muzzarelli already cheered as winner three times and now clearly leads the half-time table (Photo: Peter Wyss).

Patrick Flammer, who scored well for his team in second place and in this way still helped Muzzarelli in the individual ranking, sees a psychological advantage with the table leader.

Patrick Flammer: "The others have to take the knife between their teeth. I actually thought he had to be beatable."

How good is Martin Bürki?
Now everyone is excited about Martin Bürki. The six-time slalom champion will compete for the Flammer Speed Team in the next three races in Romont (June 15), Chamblon (June 22) and Drognens (September 21). Those who know the man from Berne know that he prepares meticulously. As a former champion in the OPC Challenge, he is very familiar with the handling of production cars.

Amazing Daniel Schneider
What else stood out in the Jura: Daniel Schneider, who had received ten penalty seconds in the first run, subsequently achieved a time with a late starting number in light rain that was still good for sixth place. This also speaks for the grip of the Yokohama semislicks in the wet. Schneider pushed Mario Diethelm, who had been disqualified in the second round, down to seventh place.

After a clear goal error in the first run (see picture), Daniel Schneider put all his eggs in one basket in the second run on a damp track and thus drove the sixth best time!

Ralf Henggeler, Jean-Claude Debrunner and for the first time Bruno Bleiker also made it into the top ten with their first run times. Jürg Jucker, Gilbert Denzer (eighth a week earlier in Bière) just missed them. With rank 13 Andreas Saner, formerly a winning driver in the Suzuki Grand Prix, came as far forward as still.

Unfortunately no strike result
On the other hand, OPC runner-up Rolf Tremp conceded a zero with two invalid runs - whether justified or not - which set him far back in the championship. For Tremp and Zimmermann, the fact that the regulations do not provide for a scratch result is now taking its toll.

The standings after four of eight runs: 1st Marcel Muzzarelli 78 points; 2nd Simeon Schneider 65; 3rd Sandro Fehr 64; 4th Fabian Eggenberger 63; 5th Flammer Speed Team 51; 6th Ralf Henggeler, 47; and so on.