Merli in Germany 2nd among single-seaters and 5th overall
Fifth overall, third in the FIA Int. Hill Climb Cup round and second among the single-seaters in a race full of surprises. Christian Merli was racing his Osella FA 30 Judd LRM as a guest of honour at the 56th Int. ADAC Hill Climb Race Osnabrück. Osnabrück is in northwestern Germany, not far from the Dutch border. The event was the 8th round of the German championship and the 5th round of the FIA Int. Hill Climb Cup. There were four race heats on the 2.030 km track, and victory was decided based on each driver’s two best times.
Christian, what happened in the third run?
“Already in the second run the car was losing grip and my time wasn’t good. In the third run I went up fast, but in the last corner I lost the rear and damaged the wing. However, congratulations to our teammate, who finished third. Temperatures were lower today than yesterday and we found it hard to achieve our times. As always I was treated like a king. It’s definitely the best organised event, thanks to Bernd Stegmann and his team.”
The track
“The Uphöfener Berg track is 2.030 km long, and they had scheduled four practice heats on Saturday and four race heats on Sunday. The times of your two best heats were added up. 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.”
The weekend in Germany
The first two practice runs on Saturday are held in the dry, then the rain arrives. Merli finishes the first run in 52”830 with Geoffrey Schatz from France (Nova Proto NP 01) 0”445 behind. In the second run Schatz is 0”295 ahead of Christian. The rain then prevents them from going up again. On Sunday there are four race runs, with each driver’s best two times added up for the final classification. For the first run it is slightly overcast. Schatz finishes a mere 0”191 faster than Christian, Hin is third. The second run takes place in dry weather with low temperatures. The Slovenian Patrik Zajelsnik with the Nova Proto NP01 tops the timesheet, followed by Schatz and Merli. In the third run the driver from Trentino loses about twenty seconds due to a spin and subsequent impact at the last corner. Schatz crashes in the fourth climb and is out.
The podium on the two best times accumulated
1st Zajelsnik (Nova Proto NP01) 1’40”669, 2nd Schatz (Nova Proto NP 01-2) 1’41”408, 3rd Hin (Osella FA 30) 1’43”748, 4th Faustini (Nova Proto) 1’43”876, 5th Merli (Osella FA 30 Judd LRM) 1’44”090.
Translation by Ruth Scheithauer