Unexpected meeting on the other side of the world in Tokyo
Frequent travellers often spend weeks and months trying to organize a common meeting point and then something like this happens. At 7:40 a.m. on Monday, after a long train journey from Suzuka via Tokyo (with a five-hour overnight stay) to Narita Airport, I enter the Starbucks, tired and exhausted, to have a proper coffee in peace and quiet before the flight to Zurich, which takes more than 12 hours.
The "store" is full and only a few seats are free. I place my luggage on one of the free chairs and am amazed when I take a closer look at the person sitting opposite me. There sits two-time Le Mans winner and world champion Marcel Fässler. He is on his way to Fuji, where another round of the FIA World Endurance Championship will take place next weekend. We are delighted to have this spontaneous meeting on the other side of the world and have more than just a coffee together.
We soon come to our favorite topic: the old cars. Marcel thought it was a great pity that I couldn't be at the Klausen race (unfortunately, the DTM race in Zandvoort couldn't be postponed). The Audi driver was totally enthusiastic about the event in Glarnerland. He said that he had rarely experienced such an enthusiastic audience. Every time he returned, the fans were waving at the side of the road, giving him a feeling comparable to that of the two Le Mans victories. We had heard a lot of negative things in the run-up to the Klausen race, so Fässler's feedback was all the more positive.
The drive with the rally Quattro made an extreme impression on the "R18 driver". Marcel said: "On the short stretch from the start to the first corner, I got into fourth gear. The thing had an extremely short gear ratio, only offered a top speed of around 160 km/h, but took off like a cannonball. Unfortunately, the much-used gearshift broke on my last run. I thought I was going to have to give up, but I couldn't disappoint all the fans and so I fought my way to the top of the pass with just two fingers shifting."
We wish Marcel and his teammates every success in Fuji next weekend!
And the report on the Klausen racewith lots of photos of the Fässler-Quattro can be found here.
