Norbert Michelisz expecting a tough fight with Rob Huff in Macau

Norbert Michelisz was fastest in today’s free practice at Macau, with the Honda driver three-tenths faster than Macau specialist Rob Huff’s Citroën C-Elysée WTCC. The Hungarian admits he was on the limit, although he had planned to be more cautious before the session.

“You always want to be super-safe to save the car in free practice, but driving on a circuit such as this you get into a rhythm and you start pushing automatically, which is what happened today,” said the Hungarian to TouringCarTimes.

“I felt confident, although the conditions were not easy and the grip seemed to be very low. I think we need to work more on the car because I can’t be sure if the feeling comes from the track or from the car, I don’t remember such a low grip situation in free practice. I expect the others to improve, so we can’t stand still.”

Michelisz hopes the track does not change too much, as he expects his Civic to be quicker with lower grip levels compared to the other cars.

“You can’t predict the level of grip. In low grip circumstances like today or when it rains our car is very good. I am a bit afraid that as the track improves we will drop down the order, but anyway coming here I didn’t expect to be so close to the Citroëns, never mind ahead of them. Looking at the championship we need to stay ahead of Volvo, but if something extra comes out of that then it’s more than welcome.”

Championship leader Thed Björk has never been to Macau, but the Hungarian believes this won’t be too much of a disadvantage for the Volvo driver with the level of accuracy that simulators have reached nowadays.

“I think people from outside overestimate this advantage [of having a better knowledge of the track],” said Michelisz. “When I came here to Macau for the first time I prepared with the simulator at home on my PC and I was second in qualifying. In this area the technology has improved a lot, so I guess with the simulator work he has done they will have kind of made up for that. If I have to choose one it will always be track knowledge for sure, but it’s not a two-second difference, it’s about a couple of tenths probably.”

Michelisz is aware that he is facing an extra challenge with Macau specialist Rob Huff, which he takes as an extra motivation knowing that the Brit has won eight times on the Guia Circuit, more than anyone else in touring cars.

“For me it’s exciting, because I would really like to measure myself against Rob in Macau,” said the Hungarian. “Everybody knows he is the fastest driver around here, no matter what he drives. I think this year the circumstances are the same in terms of cars, the only difference is of course the ballast. The combination of the weight of the car and his skills makes him the number one favourite by far for victory. If we can stay close it will be a huge satisfaction. Like I said, I don’t expect to be able to fight against Rob, I think it will be tough looking at his talent and his speed in Macau.”