Suzuki Cup: Strength lies in tranquility

ANALYSIS AFTER THREE RUNS Marcel Muzzarelli already has two victories to his credit. Now follows the Slalom Bure, whose course he does not know, unlike his opponents. After three races of the Suzuki Swiss Racing Cup Marcel Muzzarelli, Sandro Fehr, Fabian Eggenberger and Simeon Schneider crystallize as the four strongest drivers and title candidates. [...]

Editorial - May 22, 2019

Knowing how: As he did in other one-make cups, Marcel Muzzarelli pushes the Suzuki Swift Sport to the limit in a fine way (photos: Peter Wyss).

After three races of the Suzuki Swiss Racing Cup Marcel Muzzarelli, Sandro Fehr, Fabian Eggenberger and Simeon Schneider crystallize as the four strongest riders and title candidates. Muzzarelli already has two victories and a second place to his credit, Fehr one success and two podium places, which otherwise only Eggenberger and Schneider have claimed for themselves. Their first victories are probably only a matter of time.

Unimpressive efficiency from Muzzarelli
If you watch the four of them on the track and compare them with each other, you'll notice that Muzzarelli is also calm personified at the wheel; you can hardly hear a squeak from the Yokohama semislicks. Eggenberger seems a bit more brisk, while Fehr and Schneider stand out with their aggressive driving style. All three therefore also push the limits with the brakes, especially since Eggenberger takes turns with Heiko Leiber in the car.

Marcel Muzzarelli: "I don't brake so hard because the car gets nervous on the last groove. I prefer to be on the gas a little earlier and therefore invest that time in the braking phase."

The runner-up was just twelve hundredths short of the now two-time season winner in Bière.

Fabian Eggenberger: "In training, the upper place went better for me. But I have now steadily improved. That will come..."

What does Bure bring?
Perhaps already this Saturday at the next weapons course in Bure. The leader of the standings, unlike his strongest opponents, is not yet familiar with the 5255-meter course, which has been run in a different direction since 2017.

Marcel Muzzarelli: "This will be interesting and difficult for me. I only know the other side of Bure. That's why I'm fine with what the order was in Bière."

Fehr tries and succeeds with the crowbar
If, then Sandro Fehr is the favorite in the Jura. The St. Gallen native won the Suzuki Grand Prix in Bure in 2017 and 2018. In Bière, he still ousted Simeon Schneider from the podium with a radical second run. And wondered himself afterwards.

Sandro Fehr: "After setting low 3'09 times in both practice sessions and the first race run, I took out the crowbar. On the way I thought I'd blown it and then I was two seconds faster after all..."

His own feeling did not prove him right: Sandro Fehr poached to third place in the second race run.

Although they have been archrivals for years, Eggenberger and Fehr get along brilliantly outside the cockpit. They share the camp, compare their data and give each other tips. Whoever implements them better is ahead afterwards...

Schneider also wonders
The most dogged of the top 4 seems to be Simeon Schneider. He didn't understand the world at the end.

Simeon Schneider: "My second run was actually good. Nevertheless, I was almost two seconds behind - a world. But the important thing for the championship is not to have a skid."

Who do you think will get it first in this respect?

Driving instructor Jean-Claude Debrunner doubted himself. In Biere, he caught up with the Cup routiniers, at least in terms of rank.

Debrunner finds the connection
The emotional situation was completely different for Jean-Claude Debrunner. Although his gap to Muzzarelli was already 4.36 seconds, he felt the sixth place as confirmation that he can do it after all after a long break from racing. Previously, he had only finished 14th (Interlaken) and 23rd (Frauenfeld). After all, Debrunner was the day's winner in Frauenfeld and Bière in 2005, at that time with the Dallara-Nissan V6, and was subsequently also among the winning drivers in the OPC Challenge.

Jean-Claude Debrunner: "I was aware of the challenge, but I had doubts about myself. You just have to become one with this car and not study too much."

Denzer in the top ten for the first time
Also Gilbert Denzer showed himself remarkably strong in Bière. The man from Basel would have been satisfied with rank 9 after the first run and even improved to rank 8 afterwards. While Christian Zimmermann remained in fifth position only with the first faultless run, the first time for Ralf Henggeler was only enough for tenth place, just behind Roland Graf.

Gilbert Denzer achieved his first top-10 result. He shares the car with his partner Bettina Buess.

The promotion and relegation of Bière
Eighth in Frauenfeld, Mario Diethelm once again placed in the top third of the slalom class with the highest number of participants, finishing in 11th place ahead of OPC runner-up Rolf Tremp. In 2018, Diethelm was still driving a Subaru WRX STi in L2.

On the other hand, Jürg Jucker experienced a brutal crash from P9 to P35 because he hit a pylon in both runs. Bruno Bleiker, still a winning driver in the Suzuki Grand Prix, is only slowly approaching the top ten, which should be his minimum target, with positions 17, 15 and 14.

Michael Spörri is going through a rapid learning process. The greenhorn finished his very first slalom in Interlaken without a training run in 27th place, and his second in Frauenfeld in 19th. In Bière, the skier from Würenlos was already in 15th position and thus clearly in the first half of the rankings.