Photo: Macau GP

Norbert Michelisz grabs championship lead with crucial Macau pole

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Norbert Michelisz scored a critical pole position to snatch a slender championship lead for the TCR World Tour showdown, as Hyundai dominated qualifying for the Macau finale.

Michelisz and BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse team-mate Mikel Azcona picked up where they had left off in practice on Thursday, setting a commanding pace around the Guia street circuit.

The Hyundais had dominated Q1, nearly half a second clear of the opposition as Azcona went quickest just ahead of Michelisz by a mere 0.045.

The pair then carried their advantage into the points-paying Q2 segment where the order swapped – Michelisz just edging out Azcona by 0.072 to score the maximum 15 points on offer and pole position for the first of the weekend’s two races.

The main challenge to Hyundai’s stranglehold came from Michelisz’ title rival Yann Ehrlacher, who got to within 0.330 of the leading pace in Q2 to take third for Cyan Racing Lynk & Co. His team-mates Santiago Urrutia and Thed Björk will share the front row of the grid for the final race of the season on Sunday, courtesy of reversing the top ten.

There was visible frustration for Rob Huff, the final title contender, as the Briton struggled for pace in his Comtoyou Audi and wound up fifth.

Huff finished nine tenths down on Michelisz, and also suggested he’d been blocked by Azcona on his final flying lap. Huff’s team-mates Frédéric Vervisch and John Filippi took seventh and eighth respectively.

MacPro Honda’s Néstor Girolami, meanwhile, produced a strong fourth despite sitting out the final part of Q2 with a suspected technical issue.

Although Hyundai ultimately controlled proceedings, there briefly appeared to be a chink in the team’s armor as Q2 went underway. First, Azcona had an early scare at Lisboa, spinning his Elantra N TCR in the escape road but managing to avoid damage.

Shortly afterwards, Marco Butti – drafted in to drive a third car for the squad this weekend – lost control at Dona Maria and clattered the barriers, leaving him stranded on track and triggering the only red flag of the session.

Following qualifying, Michelisz now leads the chase for the inaugural TCR World Tour title on 398 points, six clear of Ehrlacher and ten ahead of Huff.

Race 1 is scheduled to start at 12:50 local time on Saturday (CET +7).