Norbert Michelisz leads Honda 1-2 in wet final practice in Hungary
Local hero Norbert Michelisz delighted the fans standing in the wet grandstands at the Hungaroring, after setting the fastest time in the second and final practice session, two-tenths of a second clear of Honda team-mate Tiago Monteiro.
The session began in very wet conditions after the rain fell or over an hour before the start. After not setting any representative times in the first practice, the Hungarian bounced back from a technical issue to set successive fastest laps in the Civic WTCC, despite carrying 80kg of compensation weight on the car this weekend.
Michelisz’s closest charge came from a surprising quarter, with RC Motorsport proving the Lada Vesta still seems to be the car to have in the wet in the WTCC, with Frenchman Yann Ehrlacher on course to finish the session second fastest, until a late improvement from Monteiro moved the points leader up to second.
Free Practice 1 pace-setter Rob Huff was the best-placed of the privateer Citroëns in fourth, while Volvo demonstrated that their Achilles’ Heel from 2016, their wet weather pace, is perhaps one that hasn’t been resolved, with Nicky Catsburg their best-placed driver in sixth, while Thed Björk was a lowly 15th, 3.6 seconds off the pace.
The two Chevrolet Cruzes were also outside of the top ten, with Campos Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri in 11th, with Tom Coronel 14th for ROAL Motorsport.
The session was red flagged twice, with Aurélien Panis stopping his Zengõ Honda at Turn 6 with a electrical issue after 15 minutes, while Nicky Catsburg brought out the red flags again with one minute left on the clock, also stopping at Turn 6, with the session not resumed.
Track limits were regularly broken, with Yann Ehrlacher losing two of his best laps, with Sébastien Loeb Racing pair Mehdi Bennani and Tom Chilton also having their fastest times deleted after going off circuit at Turns 4 and 6.
The next session is qualifying, at 14:00 CET.
