10th round for Christian Merli in Slovenia

Christian Merli with his Nova Proto NP01 powered by a naturally aspirated Cosworth engine prepared by the Swiss Heini Mader, will be racing at the 31st edition of the Ilirska Bistrica hill climb in Slovenia, the penultimate round of the European hill climb championship. A track with many restarts and chicanes, where his opponents with their turbocharged engines will have an easier time because they have a higher torque and thirty more horsepower than the Trentino driver. The Scuderia Vimotorsport driver has won to date in Portugal, Spain, the Czech Republic, Italy and Switzerland.

Christian, let’s look at the rankings

"To win the championship I’d have to take one victory and at least one second place. Not easy, as the Slovenian climb has seven restarts. There will be two practice heats and two race heats on the 5.010 km track. My opponents, with their turbo engines, will definitely have an advantage. The regulations divide the competitors into four groups: P1, where I race against the Petit brothers and the Spaniard Iraola Lanzagorta, P2 with the Formula 3000s, and P3 and P4 in descending order. Each group victory brings 25 points.”
Among the P2s the leader is Fausto Bormolini competing in the Formula Reynard K02. Should he win the last two races in his group, he could be the new European champion.
"I cannot afford to make any mistakes," says Merli, "and it will be very difficult to keep up with the turbocharged engines. The weather outlook is also uncertain at the moment."

The FIA European Hill Climb Championship programme

13 April: Col Saint-Pierre (France), 27 April: Rechbergrennen (Austria), 11 May: Rampa da Falperra (Portugal), 18 May: Subida al Fito (Spain), 1 June: Ecce Homo (Czech Republic), 8 June: Trento – Bondone (Italy), 20 July: Limanowa (Poland), 3 August: Osnabrück (Germany), 17 August: Saint-Ursanne (Switzerland), 31 August: Ilirska Bistrica (Slovenia), 21 September: Buzetski dani (Croatia).

Translation by Ruth Scheithauer