Merli at the top of the FIA European Hill Climb Glory in Slovenia
Christian Merli can win the category 2 title in Ilirska Bistrica, the penultimate round of the 2022 FIA EHC season
The production-based Category 1 cars bring fierce competition for titles in all classes
Competitors at the historic mountain championship in Slovenia reveal style and speed
The FIA European Hill Climb Championship is nearing its peak, with consistent levels of success being achieved by the leaders in Category 1 for Production ‘Closed Cars’ and Category 2 for Sports Prototypes ‘Open Cars’, meaning high overall scores as this weekend (3 . and September 4) enters Ilirska Bistrica in Slovenia.
Unsurprisingly, the Category 2 thoroughbred racing machines have dominated the fastest times in all seven rounds to date, with Italian Christian Merli taking seven wins overall in his Osella PA 30, Group D/E2-SS competition.
Merli’s success in the strongest Category 2 division has seen his closest rival in points move up from the CN/E2-SE division in the form of Czech hero Petr Trnka. Trnka has been second to Merli four times so far in the 2022 season; in Portugal, the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland.
In Slovenia, Merli only has to start training for the title of champion. Even if he fails to attend either this weekend’s event or the final round, the Buzet Days in Croatia on September 13 and 14, Trnka can only aim for the smallest margin.
With three EHC category 2 titles in 2018, 2019 and 2021, Merli’s streak of success in the series was only interrupted by a break brought by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Last season, he finished second at the challenging Ilirska Bistrica. was enough to effectively put the title out of reach of his nearest rival, 11-time EHC champion Simone Faggioli.
Since Faggioli is not at this year’s championship, Merli’s closest rivals in Slovenia will probably be Trnka and the German Alexander Hin, who has finished three times as runner-up in the D/E2-SS division behind the Italian until 2022.
The course in Ilirska Bistrica is one of the shortest in the season, as it measures just over five kilometers and rises from 425 meters above sea level at the start to 580 meters at the finish. That means a premium for every fraction of a second that can be gained or lost through the 14-corner series, with the outright record currently standing at 1 minute 59.6 seconds.
While Merli may have dominated Category 2 until 2022, the battles between Category 1 divisions also saw several drivers rack up huge results, all competing for the overall and within each group, numbered 1-5 in order of most changes and performance .
Karl Schagerl dominated Group 1 with his wild Volkswagen Golf Rallye. Three wins in the first four races put the Austrian well in front, but he salvaged second place at Trento-Bondone in July after engine problems led to two third-place finishes for Poland’s Sebastian Stec’s Ford Fiesta, winner of his home event and incredible little Fiat X1/9 by Italian Manuel Dondi in Italy and Switzerland.
In Group 2, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX of Croatian ace Tomislav Muhvić, who also recorded three victories at the start of the season, leads the standings. Since then, Muhvic has tried to defend his lead by scoring as many points as possible, while other contenders battled for individual victory, including Giuseppe Aragona (Italy), Karol Krupa (Poland) and Nicolas Werver (Switzerland).
In Group 3, there is a strong battle between the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX of the Italian Antonino Migliuolo and the Hyundai i30 TCR of the Macedonian Igor Stefanovski. The difference between the two is only their lowest score to date, with Stefanovski failing to finish in Spain, while Migliuolo still managed to bring home 8 points at the Ecce Homo Sternberk in May, his lowest score.
While the top three groups all performed well in terms of performance, the overall lead in Category 1 is held by Group 4 points leader Vasilije Jakšić of Montenegro, who has taken five wins and two second places so far this season in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX . The big question now is whether he can retain the overall Category 1 title for the first time.
In Group 5 for two-wheel drive cars, Poland’s Macie Serafino’s Renault Clio Sport has been the pace-setter all year, despite one or two mid-season mechanical dramas, with back-to-back wins at the last two races in Poland and Switzerland regained dominance in the classroom.
In addition to the championship contenders and local EHC heroes, Ilirska Bistrica will also see the cars and stars of the FIA Historic Hill Climb Championship in action. After three rounds, with two remaining, the HHC is divided into five categories with the Nations Cup also bringing together friendly competitors in the ‘Ryder Cup of motorsport’.
Marcel Benik arrives on home soil in Slovenia with his BMW 2002 with the desire to reduce the gap behind Daren Harald Mössler, the leader in category 1 in terms of points. With only seven points between them, there are good prospects for a fight to the end.
Rear-engined cars dominate Category 2, with Italy’s Brando Motti’s sonorous Porsche 911 Carrera RS taking the lead, but facing stiff competition from Czech racer Petr Strnad’s Skoda 130 RS. Porsches abound in Category 3 as well, with Giorgio Tessore’s 911 SC holding off the magnificent 935 of Jean-Marie Almeras, who won the overall EHC title twice in 1979-80 with the same car.
Piero Lottini leads category 4 for sports prototype machines behind the wheel of his Osella PA9/90. With two wins in three starts, the Italian is in a dominant position, as he was beaten only by the similar car of compatriot Mario Massiglia in Trento-Bondone in July.
In the category 5 open bike, it is France’s Jean-Marc Debeaune who has a narrow lead over the MYXs of Slovenia’s František Kmet and Czech Aleš Gänsdorfer, with Kmet sure to have home field advantage this weekend.
All of this means that Italy have a strong lead in the Nations Cup ahead of the Czech Republic, with France currently third in the table ahead of Slovakia by just one point. With training sessions on Saturday and competitive actions on Sunday, the penultimate round of this year’s premiere series of mountain climbers in Europe will surely provide an unforgettable spectacle.
For event news and coverage visit HERE (https://ghd-ilirskabistrica.com/track/)
For full standings and championship information, visit HERE (https://www.fia.com/events/historic-hill-climb-championship/season-2022/2022-standings)
Live streaming of the event will be available HERE (https://fiahillclimb.chronomoto.hu/ehc2022/index.php)
To stream the event live, visit HERE (https://www.automobilsport.com/fia-european-hill-climb-calendar-2022—232391.html)