Norbert Michelisz approaching Marrakech as a test weekend

Hungary’s Norbert Michelisz says the team are focussing on the set-up and development of the new Honda Civic WTCC this weekend to prepare for the next few rounds, most critically the team’s home race at the start of next month.

Michelisz was 13th fastest in the 30 minute Friday test session, improving to 11th in Saturday’s first free practice session, 2.2 seconds off the ultimate pace of Sébastien Loeb’s Citroën.

“We knew before the weekend it was going to be tough as this year’s car is much more complex,” said Michelisz to TouringCarTimes. “The important thing is to get the most information we can. We’ve tried some things on the set-up, it’s not important to have a really fast car in Marrakech, but to be prepared for the next races in France and Hungary as we won’t have any other testing, so we want to finish every session with the car intact to get the most mileage and to try different things on the car.”

With new tyres, aerodynamics, suspension and increased engine performance, this year’s cars are already delivering faster lap times than the last generation of Super 2000 cars, but Michelisz says the effect of the new cars isn’t as obvious at the Marrakech street circuit as it will be elsewhere.

“On this circuit it’s not a big difference, because you have a stronger engine but you have bigger brakes, so you still brake at exactly the same point as last year’s car, and there aren’t any fast corners so you don’t really get to feel the extra downforce we now have.”