Norbert Michelisz identifies Yvan Muller as main title threat
Championship leader Norbert Michelisz has pinpointed Yvan Muller as the main hurdle he will have to overcome in the hunt for the 2019 World Touring Car Cup title.
Heading into this weekend’s season-finale at Sepang, BRC Hyundai driver Michelisz leads the standings by a mere nine points from Honda’s Esteban Guerrieri.
Muller, however, is just another two points adrift, and arrives in Malaysia on the back of double race wins in both Ningbo and Macau.
Muller’s Lynk & Co Cyan Racing team-mate Thed Björk is the final remaining championship contender moving into the finale, but Michelisz believes Muller – who already has four world touring car titles to his name – is likely to pose the greatest threat to his own ambitions of clinching a first.
“If I look at the dynamics of the last three or four race weekends, I’d say Lynk & Co – and especially Yvan – is a very big threat,” said Michelisz. “He did an amazing Macau weekend and an amazing China weekend. He is in a good position coming here.”
Keen not to count out either of his rivals, however, Michelisz continued:
“Thed has the disadvantage of being a bit behind [28 points], but I know him and he is capable of scoring big-point weekends, like he did in Marrakesh for example. With Esteban, I know him the most of the three contenders as he was my team-mate in the last three races in ‘17. He is an amazing driver. To be honest it is very difficult to point at either Esteban or Yvan as they have a very similar chance of getting the title. I think in general, all three of us have probably the same chance.”
Asked to elaborate on his feelings of coming to Sepang as the championship leader, Michelisz offered a pragmatic view.
“It has pros and cons,” the Hungarian said. “The pro side is a small lead in the points, but then you also have more pressure because you are the one who can lose. I don’t mind a bit of extra pressure because it has always helped me to perform at my peak.
“I feel relaxed. Honestly I don’t know where it is coming from because I remember two years ago before the [WTCC] finale [in Qatar] I felt two weeks before I was stressed and the championship was my first thought in the morning. But so far now, the only thing I feel is confidence and calmness. It would be nice to control these things because I don’t know where it comes from. I am curious to see tomorrow, the last five minutes before qualifying, if it will be the same.”
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