A temperature of 37 degrees in the shade pushed man and machine to their limits. Yes, it really was that hot on the weekend of June 17-19, 2022. Even Peter Sauber, who had been announced in advance, had his problems with the freshly restored C1 at the start of the first race.
Due to the heat and the slow stop and go driving to the start, the fuel supply sputtered and the plugs also oiled up, ultimately preventing the 1970 race winner and Swiss champion from driving away.
52 years ago, you could still read the following in the Automobil-Revue:
"Excitement in the sports cars: Sauber or Foitek? Let's move on to the other sports car championship. Sauber and Foitek were at loggerheads here; Sauber in front with an additional strike result. Nobody doubted that Foitek would win the group again and - due to the lack of significant opponents - he could actually take things easy. After the first race, the situation did not look so rosy for Sauber. He led by four hundredths of a second ahead of his brand colleague Wernli and three tenths ahead of former champion Flückiger. However, as Flückiger had already clocked 1'38.48" last year and Sauber only managed 1'39.63", there was still every chance of success.
It was obvious that brand colleague Wernli was not allowed to win, as he would have destroyed all his team partner's chances. That left only Flückiger. However, Flückiger's accelerator pedal stuck in the second race and the engine gave up the ghost at a fantastic top speed. This meant that everything was clear for Sauber, who could still afford to take a swing in the upper section and still won safely, as Wernli maintained a sufficient safety margin in the second run. Foitek was merely a spectator in this confrontation, with the consolation of having set a new group record.
Like Sauber, he also scored the maximum 500 points, but due to a late start to the season, he has no scratch results. Third place in the championship went to Heinz Schulthess, who set remarkable times in the small Honda. Fourth place in the championship went to Bruno Wernli. He drives the same car as the new Swiss champion. An outstanding performance by this young team, which immediately took first and fourth place in the championship with the new Sauber."
Race car manufacturer Sauber even had five sports cars on the grid at the weekend, showing the many fans in attendance the start of the first ten years of Sauber Motorsport. The Sauber F1 Team, which will run under Alfa-Romeo in 2022, started the Canadian GP at the same time and brought 10 well-deserved and valuable points to Hinwil.
Many well-known racing cars
Of course, there were many other vehicles to marvel at.
First and foremost there was the March 701 F1 from 1970, the ex Jo Siffert car and the Brabham BT23 F2 of Xavier Perrot, who also drove up the Kerenzerberg in an F2 in 1970 and was only narrowly beaten by Silvio Moser, but won the Swiss championship in the racing car category.
Established racing cars at the start
In addition to Peter Sauber, there were various other old masters at the start: the king of all mountains Fredy Amweg (73) in the Amweg Eigenbau, Fredy Lienhard in the Ferrari 333SP and Eugen Strähl (78) in the Sauber C5, and "Little Jo" Vonlanthen didn't back down either, even at 80 years young.
Of course, none of them drove quite as fast as they did when they were active, but hats off to the men, some of whom are well over 70, for still having the agility to get into the cars and, above all, to get out of them again.
Of course, none of these cars knew "bouncing", but Fredy Lienhard (75) still complained about the shocks that the steering wheel of the Ferrari 333 SP transmitted to his body.
Back to his old "freshness" after the coronavirus break
After the somewhat lengthy corona break, it was finally possible to drive on the Kerenzerberg again after 2018. Unfortunately, it was not the running times but the heat that proved to be a torturous challenge for everyone. As is well known, the race was run without any timekeeping. But in front of around 10,000 spectators throughout the weekend, who hiked up the slope despite the heat to watch the fast mountain runs.
A big thank you goes to all the local residents, who always have to accept certain restrictions, but were nevertheless extremely friendly and enthusiastic about the event. We must not forget all the helpers in the background, such as marshals, paramedics, etc., who always have to be attentive and present, and of course also very close to the boiling point ...
