For once, the story is much more exciting than the pictures from the "milk soup". The conditions at the Arosa ClassicCar Hill Climb, which took place for the 14th time from August 30 to September 2, 2018, were downright "underground" for drivers, helpers, spectators and - of course - photographers.
Darkness, rain and, above all, fog made it a game of hide and seek. The first race on Saturday morning started as normal, on a wet road. Then the race was stopped immediately at start number 108. The radio message to the marshals was: "Roooooot, the engine has blown". As there were many helpers from Austria and Germany at the track, written German was spoken and also radioed, which sometimes led to quite amusing translations.
The reliable one with problems
Roland Brogli's Opel Manta actually had an unannounced problem on one of the fastest sections of the route. The oil smeared the road for several hundred meters. Kurt Holziger, who was following in his Giulia, was very lucky that the thankfully "empty" construction site toilet block saved him from a possible rollover during his spin on the oil-smeared road.
The binding agent was completely powerless on the completely wet road surface and so a cleaning machine had to be brought in from Chur to remove the oil from the track so that the race could continue safely.
Quite rightly, everything was stopped and professionally cleaned. This naturally meant a longer break. As the mishap happened at 10 a.m., the first race had to be canceled for everyone. The race was then able to continue with the second run as planned at one o'clock.
Difficult weather conditions
There was now enough time for a coffee break, to warm up and, above all, to escape the wet. In the meantime, thick fog had rolled in and shrouded the course in an opaque white, even in the wooded areas. The marshals were completely powerless to recognize any overtaking manoeuvres in time and could only show the flags by ear. As a photographer, you had a similar problem and struggled with almost impossible visibility. After a few cars in the first group, another radio call: "Rooot, he's cleared the whole chicane....but driver ok!"
This interruption lasted less than fifteen minutes, then the race continued until the third radio message: "An emergency doctor and a rescue vehicle must be on the track immediately and urgently to recover a hunter who has had an accident."
The visibility conditions in the forest area were too risky for the rescue helicopter. Another hour passed very quickly before the crashed hunter, who had nothing to do with the hill climb, was finally rescued and treated. Then the race entered its final phase before darkness fell.
The pictures clearly show what the conditions were like on Saturday. Thanks to digital photography, it was still possible to take pictures. Years ago, this would have been impossible with the analog possibilities. Back then, only pictures of the start would have been possible.
Slips also with the cabs
Even the cab rides were not immune to slips. An Audi TT easily kissed a wall. However, Marcel Fässler, Marco Werner and Harald Demuth (I love these conditions) had no problems and really let the Audi's fly. It was probably even more fascinating for the passengers that it was still possible to drive really fast with only about 30-40% visibility.
And Georges Kaufmann was delighted that the engine of his Maserati 250F ran really cleanly without any stuttering thanks to these damp conditions.
Better conditions on Sunday
Sunday then offered slightly better conditions, so that some really fast times could still be set. While the first race could now be contested on an almost completely dry track, it started to rain again from Arosa in the second.
The later the cars set off, the wetter the track became. As a result, there were again a few slips on Sunday, but these did not result in any major interruptions.
Winner on the mountain
As in the previous year, the absolute fastest man in the "Competition Formula Class" was Thomas Amweg in his BMW Martini MK50 03 with a total time of 9:18.14 minutes for the three runs. He was only 40 seconds slower in the misty rain.
Roger Moser had to take a back seat this time, only proving his local knowledge on the Martini, which is around five years older, in the final rain run with a lead of 4 seconds over Amweg.
Formula cars and prototypes/touring cars were judged separately for the first time this year. So there was also a winner in the "Competition Class" (without formula cars) and Marcel Hayoz in the Lotus 23B was best here with a time of 10:50.77 minutes.
Second place went to Marco Brunner in the Ford Mustang, with Gerd Triverio in the Alfa Romeo 1750 GTAm in third.
In the "Arosa Classic Trophy" fields 1 and 2, there was an Alfa double success. Bart den Hartog drove the Alfa GT 1300 Junior up the three runs with the most accurate time of 0.13 seconds. Second place went to Gallo Amedeo with the Alfa Giulia TI Super 1.6 with a 0.28 second difference.
In the Sport Trophy, Andreas Portmann came out on top in the 1995 Lancia Delta HF Integrale.
Better weather next year?
Unfortunately, the Arosa-Classic has now had very bad weather twice in a row, which this event really doesn't deserve. The 7.3-kilometre mountain route with its 76 bends and a difference in altitude of 422 meters and a unique downhill section of 1.2 kilometers is extremely challenging and extremely fascinating to drive.
It is therefore a shame that there are not many more competitors from nearby countries joining the Swiss, as this event has an international format with its very professional organization. Unfortunately, nobody can control the weather, you have to live with that everywhere, but the route is certainly something special.
This was certainly what motivated the Swede Björn Mattisson to come to Switzerland in his Mini Cooper S. Hopefully he enjoyed it so that he will come back next year with a few buddies.
Just to complete the eventful Saturday, the hunter unfortunately succumbed to the consequences of the crash. Our condolences!
