Norbert Michelisz expecting “stronger Macau” after “positive” Suzuka recovery

Norbert Michelisz says he expects to come out stronger at Macau for the penultimate weekend of the World Touring Car Cup season despite taking his fourth win of the campaign at Suzuka.

The Hungarian racer recovered from 17th on the grid to take 13th in the opening race of the weekend and then converted the reverse grid pole into victory in race two – seeing off the determined challenge of Rob Huff for the win.

Tenth on the grid for race three, Michelisz secured ninth place to stay in touch with Esteban Guerrieri in the standings and said it was a case of mission accomplished in terms of getting what he could from the three races.

“I was in the points in all three races,” he said. “If you are going for the championship you cannot expect to always have the best package, although I think we managed to get the most out of it.

“I expect us to come back stronger in Macau, so I’m really looking forward to that race. It doesn’t really matter who leads now. My only goal is to stay within striking distance. Okay, if I had a choice I’d prefer to lead by this couple of points, but in the end I think it’s a positive weekend for us.”

Michelisz has now one at the last four events on the schedule and although he said he was keen to try and add to his tally, the Hyundai driver conceded that it was the points that were a priority.

“Winning four races is a nice feeling, but at the end of the season if I had the choice to win the championship or to win a lot of races of course I’d go for the championship,” he said. “Don’t misunderstand me: whenever you have the possibility you need to take the win because it’s the biggest gap from P1 to P2, but you also need to be clever and manage your chances.

“In the end I’m happy with four race wins and I hope I can add one or two more until the end of the season. But for me, the main target is to win the championship.”