Photo: WTCR

BRC Racing Team investigating Norbert Michelisz’s wheel issue in Morocco

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Norbert Michelisz’s 2018 season got off to a bumpy start, despite at one point looking set to take pole position for the BRC Racing Team in the Hyundai i30 N TCR, in a day plagued with problems from Free Practice 2 onwards.

The 2017 WTCC runner-up missed all of the second practice session after an electrical problem with his Hyundai i30 N TCR, before setting the pace in qualifying before his car started blasting flames out from the rear and dropped oil over the track, causing a red flag.

With an engine change putting him to the back of the grid, Michelisz had it all to do from 25th, but on lap five, the luckless Hungarian stopped on track with the front-left wheel coming loose, with the race then suspended behind the safety car as it took six laps to recover.

“We have to check what happened, I lost the front-left,” said Michelisz to TouringCarTimes. “The screws were broken. At one point I just felt like there was a problem, and then I could feel that the car wasn’t running anymore. I tried to limp back to the pits but it wasn’t possible.”

Michelisz is disappointed to have started the season on the wrong foot, but is looking forward to the positive with a new start tomorrow with another qualifying session and two races.

“To be honest, finishing last season in a bad way and now starting this season like this is a bit down, but we have 29 races left so nothing is lost,” he said. “The important thing we need to take from today is the performance was there to go for pole position. My objective now is to finish on the podium in the main race, and to not have a 50 point deficit before I go to Hungary again.

“30-40 minutes before the start of the race, I wasn’t sure if we could make it. The guys had to change the engine with a little over a hour to do it, and in the race I was quite happy with the car. I tried to find my chances to overtake, and my strategy was to manage the brakes and the tyres and look for some opportunities, but unfortunately I didn’t survive very long.”