Christian Merli does not disappoint in Austria
Christian Merli dominates the 54th Esthofen – St. Agatha hill climb near Linz in Austria. Invited as a guest of honour, he does not disappoint the thousands of fans ready to cheer for him along the 2.734 km track. The Scuderia Vimotorsport driver is racing at this event for the sixth time. It is the penultimate round of the Austrian and German championships.
Interview
“I’m thrilled, because I didn’t think I’d be able to win here. There were cars at the start that were a lot more powerful than mine. Everything went well, the organisation was fantastic and we finally had the weather on our side. The crowd were incredible and I hope I was able to entertain them. I like this hill climb a lot, and we’ve had a very warm-hearted welcome. The track is very fast, with only two bends to be taken in third gear, and a mixed section in high gears.”
Eighth win of the season
The champion from Trentino has conquered the top step of the podium in Portugal, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Slovenia and Croatia this year. He is the Best Performer in the European championship and tops the ranking in Group E2-SS. And let’s definitely not forget his win at the legendary Pikes Peak hill climb in Colorado/USA and his victory in St. Agatha.
The weekend in Austria
On Saturday, in the first official practice run on the 2.734 km track in Austria, Christian Merli tops the timesheet with his Osella FA 30 Judd LRM, 0”218 ahead of Christoph Lampert from Austria (Nova Proto NP01) and 1”066 ahead of the Slovene Patrik Zajelsnik (Nova Proto NP01 Turbo). In the second run, the European Best Performer stops the clock at 0’56”725 with an average speed of 173.510 km/h. Lampert and Zajelsnik follow. Merli’s team colleague Alexander Hin is fourth, 3”388 behind, in the Osella PA21 4C, which has a Peugeot 1170 cc turbo engine with 400 hp. On Sunday morning in the first race run Christian Merli finishes first in 0’55”242, resetting the track record. Zajelsnik is 1”806 behind, Alexander Hin in the Osella PA21 4C is third, 3”202 behind. The second run in the afternoon sees Merli again first, followed by Zajelsnik and Lampert.
The podium in Austria
1st Merli (Osella FA 30 Judd LRM) 1’50”768, 2nd Zajelsnik (Nova Proto NP01 Turbo) 1’54”522 behind, 3rd Lampert (Nova Proto NP01) 1’56”480 behind.
Translation by Ruth Scheithauer