Norbert Michelisz fights against gearbox issue in Qatar, but just misses out on third

Hungary’s Norbert Michelisz missed out by just one point on finishing third in the 2016 WTCC drivers’ championship, and to be the best-placed of the three factory Hondas, despite a strong run to fourth in the main race behind triple champion José María López.

Michelisz said the race was one of the best races of his career, holding off the other Citroën of Yvan Muller with a gearbox problem which prevented him from changing up gear throughout the whole race.

“I’m disappointed, but it’s nobody’s fault, said Michelisz to TouringCarTimes. “The second race I think was one of the best races I did. My gearbox was stuck, so it was impossible to upshift, so I had to lift with every upshift and sometimes lifting did not help so I then had to use the clutch. I truly thought I was going to finish third in the championship,” he added.

Michelisz was on target to grab third in the drivers’ championship until the last lap, when a mistake by Yvan Muller allowed Tiago Monteiro up the inside into fifth position, which was enough to turn things around and keep Monteiro ahead, albeit by just one championship point.

“My approach was maximum attack all weekend,” said Michelisz. “I knew in qualifying we didn’t have the fastest car, but I just wanted to get the front row standing start for the main race to maximise the possibilities to get P3 in the championship, but I took too much risk,” said Michelisz, who clipped the tyre stack in Qualifying 3, relegating him to fifth on the grid.

“I think it was a really nice season; we were consistent, and in the end it’s not the most important thing for the team who finishes third, that was just my individual target. Tiago has driven very well this season, and I’m happy for him to have finished third, but hopefully next year I’ll be ahead,” he quipped.