Race two ‘just about surviving’ following contact says Norbert Michelisz
Norbert Michelisz says his 11th place finish in the second FIA TCR World Tour race in Marrakech was “just about surviving” following his opening-lap contact with title rival Yann Ehrlacher.
The BRC Squadra Corse Hyundai driver’s race was severely hampered after being hit in the rear by Ehrlacher’s Lynk & Co and left the Hungarian struggling for the remainder of the 36-lap encounter.
The silver lining for the Hungarian rests in the fact that he maintains the championship lead ahead of the Tour’s trip to the United States next month at Mid-Ohio.
“It was very tough in Race 2,” reflected Michelisz post-race.
“I had a brilliant start and I think I was up two places but then there was a big hit from Ehrlacher, which ruined my race. My car picked up damage on both sides so it was just about surviving.”
Seeing his podium hopes all but disappear in an instant, Michelisz was left to focus on damage limitation in both senses of the phrase. Having won a WTCR title based largely on consistency, Michelisz knows how to play the long game, and it was this strategy that he deployed in race one with 40kg of compensation weight.
“In Race 1 my start wasn’t ideal, so I had to settle for third,” said Michelisz. “I was happy with the car, happy with the pace. In some laps, I tried to go for an overtake but I was never close enough.
“Although it’s a possibility to overtake in Marrakesh you always have to consider that most probably you will have contact and I was never close enough to make a clean move so this is why I settled for third.”
Michelisz holds an 11-point margin heading into the US round, but over Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia and not Ehrlacher.
Indeed, Ehrlacher’s error at the start of race two impacted his title charge, which had brought him to within 10 points of Michelisz following his race one victory.
Ehrlacher remained optimistic at the end of a weekend where the missed opportunity on Saturday afternoon may well prove costly come season’s end.
“It was a shame with the retirement in the second race due to damage in the race,” said Ehrlacher.
“But at the end of the day, we scored valuable points for Cyan Racing to the championship which obviously is our main target,” said Yann Ehrlacher.”
Ehrlacher lies 15 points adrift of Michelisz, tied for third in the standings with Néstor Girolami who, despite a late drama at the end of race two which dropped him a position to fifth, bagged two strong results aboard his BRC Hyundai Elantra.
Goat Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri is not too far behind in the title race either. The Argentinian had a strong end to the weekend, finishing second behind Ma Qinghua in race two and is just five points behind Girolami in the standings.
Licking his wounds though, will be Girolami and Michelisz’s team-mate Mikel Azcona who, after a pair of top five starting positions, could only leave with one fifth place as his reward. A late-race puncture cost him a repeat result in race two and he now lies sixth in the points.
