Rechberg Race 2023 – HillClimbFans

Motorsports festival with tens of thousands of spectators in Styria
Christian Merli and Karl Schägerl are Rechberg’s biggest race winners of 2023

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Michael Tratnik

The return of the legendary Rechberg race has become a real motorsport festival. After isolated rain showers caused difficult conditions in the first practice session on Saturday morning, it remained dry for the rest of the race weekend. Sunday in particular provided ideal conditions for racing when the sun was shining, as tens of thousands of fans made the pilgrimage to the 4.4km racecourse in Almenland. This guarantees a breathtaking atmosphere and an incomparable feel at Rechberg. The organization’s team also gave more than one successful premiere, successfully mastering all the challenges. So all three courses and also two races can be completed despite some interruptions. Above all, the live broadcasts and video walls along the way have caused excitement among fans.

In the struggle for the overall victory, the Italian Christian Merelli (title photo) was able to prevail again. With his Osella FA30 Judd LRM he put in a more than impressive performance, managing to improve again decisively, especially in the second race. After not even holding the lead in the first race to a tenth of a second over his first chaser, he finally managed to build up a lead of just over two seconds in the race’s deciding heat with a new world record time on the 4.4 kilometer long course. eviction. Second place overall goes to Czech Petr Trnka and his Norma M20 FC Mugen, who was also able to convince with an impressive performance. After a very exciting battle, he was celebrated as the winner of the E2-SC sports models and inspired tens of thousands of fans with his amazing driving style. The podium was completed by Spain’s Joseba Iraola Lanzagorta (photo), who started in Rechberg for the first time and put in an impressive display. In the end he lost only 0.14 seconds. (!) After two secret races for the E2-SC sports prototype winner, which means that the Nova NP 01-2 Honda Turbo was an outstanding success in Styrian Almenland.

Fourth overall was the young Belgian Corentin Starck with his Nova NP 01-2 Mugen, who also started at Rechberg for the first time. He was able to impress with a great performance and put himself in the spotlight. Finally, the most impressive third place was scored by the E2-SC racers. At the end of the weekend, the top five was completed by the Swiss Marcel Steiner (photo), who was also able to shine with his LobArt LA01 Honda Turbo. Especially in the second race, he managed to improve again decisively and achieve a great time on the 4.4 km long course. After a technical problem in practice, the final result was a more than impressive fourth-place finish in the notoriously strong E2-SC class. Sixth at the end of the weekend was Vorarlberg’s Christoph Lamberg, who gave a more than impressive performance with his Nova NP 01-2 Hartley Turbo. He was able to inspire tens of thousands of fans along the way with his amazing driving style, finally finishing the Rechberg race as the Austrian’s favorite. In addition, the 2l E2-SC class won only the second race.

He was followed in seventh place overall by Italy’s Federico Lieber, who was also able to convince the Wolf GB08F1 Mistral PSA Turbo. He put in a more than impressive performance and finished second overall in the E2-SS formula cars. In addition, he was able to win the 2l class in this group. The top eight is completed by Germany’s Alexander Henne (photo) with his Osella FA30 Zytek, who put in an impressive performance on Rechberg. In the second race, he was able to improve again decisively and thus finished third in the E2-SS cars. In the course of the European Mountain Championship standings, they managed to achieve second place in this group. Frenchman Sebastien Petit, who had a great performance with his new Osella PA30 Mugen, finally got ninth place overall. With consistently strong performances, he was able to achieve excellent times and convince a fifth-place finish in the sporty 3l E2-SC prototypes.

Lower Austrian Karl Schägerl (photo) won the overall car tours. After an engine failure on the second practice session, the VW Golf Rallye TFSI could be equipped for use again on the night shift at the local workshop, and then the full success was achieved in Rechberg with excellent times. But they were also lucky, because in the second race they again had engine problems at the top of the track. He was also able to set a new course record. Germany’s Jörg Weidinger, who put in a more than impressive performance at the wheel of a BMW Z4 GT3, followed in second place overall. He has been able to impress with great times and inspire tens of thousands of fans along the way with his incredible driving style. This was more than a wow success for him at Rechberg. The podium was completed in just 0.96 seconds. Czech Marek Rybnicek, who was once again able to convince with his KTM X-Bow GTX, was right behind. With this amazing car he was able to create a sensation with excellent times on race day, being able to improve again decisively, especially in the second race. With this, an impressive second place was recorded after the German driver BMW Z4 GT3 in the PF class 2 cars.

Fourth overall was Robert Schweiger from Styria, who was able to shine with a more than impressive performance. With his Porsche 911 3.5 Bi-Turbo, he managed to put himself in the spotlight and achieve excellent times. Especially in the first race, he was able to achieve the best time on a 4.4-kilometer track in Rechberg, which also allowed him to win the E2-SH class. In addition, he missed the podium by just 0.27 seconds. (!) After two calculated races. Stefan Bromock from Salzburg (photo) completed the top five in touring cars with his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo8, which competed for the first time this year. With his incredible driving style, he was able to inspire tens of thousands of spectators along the way, and he was rewarded with an impressive score the first time he raced Rechberg. A more impressive second place was also recorded for the PF Class 1 cars. Sixth place overall was last with just 0.2 seconds. (!) Styrian Reinhold Taus, who was also able to shine with his Subaru Impreza P4 Turbo, was behind. He was able to impress with a great performance and put himself in the spotlight. So at the end of the weekend they managed to take the last podium position in the PF 1 class.

Behind him in seventh place overall was Karol Krupa from Poland, who made his Rechberg race debut with his Skoda Fabia CT. With a great performance, he was able to excite with such a great car and shine with a more than impressive time, especially in the second race. The top eight in the touring car was completed by Italy’s Luca Gaetani (photo), who also performed admirably with his Porsche 911 GT3 R. He was able to put himself in the spotlight with great times and cause a sensation with great performance. At the end of the weekend there was a more than impressive result with the beautifully prepared car. Finally, Styrian Hannes Zenz, who is making a great comeback after a break of several years, is ninth overall. With the Skoda Fabia R5 DTRi he was able to continue to improve over the course of the weekend and impress with great times, which also led to an impressive fourth place finish in PF Class 2. The top ten overall was completed by Styrian Peter Probhardt, who He was also able to shine with his Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 05. With a great performance, he managed great times in the Rechberg race, but in the second race he suffered major engine damage in the finish area.

A total of 244 drivers started the legendary Rechberg’s sprint comeback

More coming soon…