Christian Merli guest of honour at Osnabrück in Germany

After his victory in Limanowa/Poland, the seventh round of the European championship, Christian Merli will now race his Osella FA 30 Judd LRM at the Int. 56th ADAC Hill Climb Race Osnabrück, where the Scuderia Vimotorsport driver has been invited as a guest of honour. Osnabrück is in northwestern Germany, not far from the Dutch border. The event is the 8th round of the German championship and the 4th round of the FIA Int. Hill Climb Championship. On the entry list there are about 180 drivers from fourteen countries.

Christian’s comment
“The last few times have been a unique experience, incredible. I’ve been treated like a king. It’s definitely the best organised event, thanks to Bernd Stegmann and his team. The Uphöfener Berg track is 2.030 km long, and they are scheduling four practice heats on Saturday and four race heats on Sunday. The times of your two best heats are added up for the final classification. The track is short and very difficult; you can’t afford to make any mistakes. After the start there is a straight, leading up to a 3rd gear left-hand bend. Immediately after there is a right-hand bend and then a series of medium-fast 3rd gear and 4th gear double bends. Halfway through the track, a large bend in 4th. A technical and narrow track, where the slightest error is punished at the finish line. As I said, the two best times are added together.”
The track record of 49”817 is held by the champion from Trentino.

Guest of honour
“It’s a great pleasure. The organisers had kept insisting, and I accepted their invitation for the first time in 2016. I won. I also took the victory in 2017, in 2019 and in 2022 with a new track record. It’s incredible; they get an estimated 25,000 paying spectators.

Translation by Ruth Scheithauer