Christian Merli as a guest of honour in Austria

The newly crowned European champion Christian Merli, having just won his sixth continental title with a splendid overall victory in Croatia at the wheel of his Nova Proto NP01 Cosworth, will be a guest of honour at the 55th Esthofen – St. Agatha hill climb near Linz in Austria on Sunday. It is the penultimate round of the Austrian and German championships.

Christian looks back on the 2025 season

“We won in Portugal, the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Switzerland and Croatia. I’m European champion for the sixth time, and I still can’t believe it. Of course I’m delighted with my victory in Croatia. At the start of the season, after ten years, I changed cars and at the beginning we really struggled. A new car and an aspirated Cosworth engine, everything was new. In the first few races we tried to find the right compromise for this car, and then the victories did come. This is also thanks to all those who have supported me this year and contributed to this success.”

Invitation to Austria

Merli has been regularly invited to St. Agatha since 2016 , when he immediately set a new outright track record in 1’03”278. In 2021 he saw the clocks stop at 1’00”777. The multiple European champion has dominated the Austrian event on the then 3.210 km track in 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

An unforgettable welcome

“It’s an unforgettable event, with an estimated 25,000 spectators. At my first time on that track, we broke the record. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a crowd. Two practice runs on Saturday, and then on Sunday another practice run and two race runs. The track has been shortened to 2,734 km. It’s very fast, with only two bends to be taken in third gear, and a mixed section to be taken in high gears.”

Translation by Ruth Scheithauer