Norbert Michelisz wins Sprint Race 3 and secures Lémeret’s title

Boutsen Ginion Racing driver Norbert Michelisz won his first sprint race of the day in commanding style, in doing so he secured co-driver Stéphane Lémeret’s drivers’ title, while the Peugeot of Aurélien Comte put on a great show to grab second on its TCR Benelux debut.

Michelisz started from pole position, while team-mate Renaud Kuppens moved into second ahead of Pierre-Yves Corthals at Mertens.

While Michelisz began to pull away, the battle behind became intense with Kuppens pressured by Corthals who in turn was under pressure from Comte’s Peugeot 308 Racing Cup.

On lap four, Corthals made contact with Kuppens, again at Mertens, which dropped the Honda Civic TCR down the order, which also saw Corthals lose momentum, allowing Comte to make the pass for second at the final corner Paquay.

Kuppens was forced to pit with damage, while the race stabilised, with only Team WRT driver Grégoire Demoustier making progress as he moved up to seventh, passing team-mate Denis Dupont on lap nine and the Delahaye Volkswagen of Didier van Dalen on lap ten.

Michelisz won the race just two seconds clear of Comte’s Peugeot as he backed off in the final stages to save on completing another lap, and with Corthals finishing in third, the Hungarian had done enough to secure the 2016 TCR Benelux drivers’ title for co-driver Stéphane Lémeret with one race remaining.

Race 4 follows with the grid as per Race 3’s result.