From September 1 to 4, 2016, the organizers closed the route from Langwies to Arosa for the 12th time to give fast historic racing, sports and touring cars the opportunity to show what they are made of on a secured track.
In contrast to most other events of this kind, the Arosa ClassicCar also offers an FIA-compliant racing category in which the cars are fully timed. The track safety is correspondingly complex, which of course also benefits the regularity drivers.
Changed track layout
The drivers had to get used to something new at the 12th Arosa ClassicCar, as the route at Litzelrüti had been slightly adapted. The track was a little rounder and smoother, but the asphalt was new. Drivers in pre-war cars said that the adjustments had no effect on their times, while the really fast drivers complained about the surface not having much grip. However, the tighter chicane on the downhill section probably had a greater impact on the race times and the chicane in the finish area also made for a less fluid ride.
Overall, however, the participants were very satisfied, because regardless of the changes, the Arosa hill climb circuit is ultimately one of the best you can drive once you have the 7.8 km long circuit with 76 bends (halfway) in your head.
Lots of spectators
Even more than in previous years, the record-breaking weather led to a large number of visitors. The organizers estimated around 25,000 to 30,000 spectators and they got to see a lot. Two races per category took place on each of the three days from Friday to Sunday, supplemented by a vehicle parade on Thursday evening. The hotels were particularly well attended by racing fans this year, which is also good for the vacation region, as September is not one of the months with the highest turnover.
In addition to the training and racing sessions, visitors were also able to take a look around the open paddock and exchange experiences with the drivers.
Following in his father's footsteps
Fredy Amweg is known in Switzerland as the "Mountain King", having won countless mountain races in Switzerland during his career. Naturally, there were high expectations of his son, who competed against repeat winner Roger Moser in the 1983 Martini MK28 BMW Formula 2 in 2016.
However, the latter was forced to retire in practice, leaving Thomas Amweg with no real opponent for his 1978 Ralt RT1.
So he was only fighting against himself, but he did so more than successfully. With his slicks, whose tire pressure was meticulously checked by his father Fredy before the start, he set a new track record of 4:17.83 on the asphalt. Impressive! With a total time of 12:57.64 from the best three runs, he clearly outpaced second-placed Duschletta in the Porsche.
No banana
"Chiquita" of course reminds us all of bananas that bore this very brand. However, the Chiquita sticker was not only to be found on the yellow nuts, but also on Porsche brand vehicles. The Bauhaus team's 911s were sprayed yellow accordingly and were quite successful, including a class victory at the 1000 km Nürburgring.
In the mountains, the Porsche, which was still geared for the circuit, was probably not quite optimally prepared, but the times that Urs Beck set were enough for third place overall behind Amweg and the significantly more powerful Porsche 911 2.8 RSR of Duschi Duschletta, as well as class victory, of course. Beck commented: "The lightweight car is very good to drive on the hill climb, of course it lacks some power, especially as we had to convert from dual to single ignition, but the result speaks for itself."
Markus Jörg was also very fast in the sixty-year-old Lotus 11 Le Mans, times under five minutes are impressive when you look at the width of the tires and the engine power of the small sports car.
In recent years, Sue Darbyshire from Great Britain has always been right at the front when she crossed the finish line in her 1928 Morgan Super Aero. The very consistent times around 05:30 show that the lady has her almost ninety-year-old Morgan tricycle just as much under control as the track. And - nobody painted longer black stripes on the ground at the start than the feisty lady.
A quick surprise
It's no secret. If you want to ride consistently, you simply have to ride at your personal limit. This was proven once again by the results in the Sport Trophy, which was all about a minimal gap between the two most simultaneous climbs.
Stephan Furter, who probably didn't even carry a watch in his car, managed this best, if only because it would have meant extra weight and Furter wanted to carry as little of that as possible. He had carefully prepared his touring car, a 1970 Ford Cortina Mk2, giving the Ford Kent with its cross-flow head some fine-tuning and optimizing the weight distribution as far as possible. With success, because the times around 5:05 would have been more than respectable in the racing class.
He was also one of the fastest in the Sport Trophy, but more important were the mere 0.03 seconds gap between races 1 and 4. Furter was followed by Andreas Portmann in the Porsche 911 Carrera and Alexander Boller in the Ford Galaxie 500, which was one of the spectators' favorites due to its brute engine sound, although Ruedi Stoop in the Ford Falcon set off from the starting line almost more impressively.
There were also some pre-war cars in the Sport Trophy, including Gian-Pietro Rossetti, who had the smallest time difference of the pre-war drivers in his 1936 Riley TT Sprite, and Ruedi Schawalder, who, although not particularly steady, pulled up the hill with the primal roar of his 14-liter engine.
Not too fast
A target time of 5:28.50 was set in the Classic Trophy, and anyone who drove faster had their time deducted. This happened to the overall winner, Werner Carl Weber, in his silver Porsche 924 Carrera GT.
But even without a fourth time, he still managed to win by 0.04 seconds from the best two runs, followed by Armin Labhart in a 1962 Porsche 356B Super 90, with Roman Becvarik in a 1975 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 in third place.
In unfamiliar surroundings
A BRM P180 from 1972 will certainly be expected on the circuit, but not on the mountain, as it is a Formula 1 monoposto with a truly powerful-sounding BRM 3-liter V12 engine. Jean-Pierre Beltoise won a non-F1 World Championship race with this car at Brands Hatch on October 22, 1972. The fact that such a car can be experienced in the Grisons Alps is almost a minor miracle.
However, Holger Lange did not set the fastest time with it, after all he was registered in the "Alpine Performance" field, just like Graham Page, for example, who you don't come across every day at a hill climb. Unfortunately, his driver Furter was unable to complete all the races.
However, he was not alone in this fate, as there were, as always, a few retirements due to technical problems and also a few fortunately minor crashes. Overall, the Arosa-ClassicCar organizers could look back with satisfaction on Sunday evening on a largely uninterrupted event. Visitors and drivers are already eagerly awaiting the next event.
The complete results of the Arosa ClassicCar can be viewed on the event website .
