Photo: TCR World Tour

Norbert Michelisz wins first Monza race as field is hit by punctures

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Norbert Michelisz made the most of his pole position to win the first FIA TCR World Tour race at Monza as nearly half of the field was hit by punctures in the hot conditions.

There was a three-car incident at Turn 1 during the first lap between Ma Qing Hua, John Filippi and Ruben Volt.

Filippi and Ma spun, with the duo heading into the pits to retire while Volt was able to continue.

Michelisz was initially threatened by Cupra driver Aurelien Comte who started third and quickly made his way past BRC Hyundai driver Mikel Azcona for second place.

Comte had the pace on Michelisz and made a first attempt into Turn 1 on the fourth lap, only for the Frenchman to suffer a front-left puncture on lap five which forced him to retire from second place.

Santiago Urrutia (Lynk & Co) was the next victim, suddenly slowing from fourth place on lap five due to a technical issue and headed into the pits to retire, handing fourth to team-mate Thed Björk.

Disaster then struck Hyundai driver Azcona who also suffered a front-left puncture on the next lap, pitting from second place. The Spaniard was able to rejoin the race to finish tenth, almost a lap down on the leaders.

Soon no less than four Honda drivers were hit by front-left punctures as Volt, Marco Butti, Ruben Fernandez and Leonel Pernia pitted in quick succession for tyre changes.

Michelisz had a comfortable lead gap to Lynk & Co Cyan Racing driver Yann Ehrlacher who in his turn had Björk close behind in the final stages of the race.

Michelisz won the race by 1.7 seconds over Ehrlacher while Björk completed the podium.

Ignacio Montenegro came home in fourth place, heading GOAT Racing team-mate Esteban Guerrieri who made his way from 14th on the grid to finish fifth.

Néstor Girolami lost one place to Guerrieri on the final lap to finish sixth ahead of Damiano Reduzzi (Hyundai), Jacopo Cimenes (Honda) and Viktor Andersson (Lynk & Co).

Ehrlacher heads the standings on 183 points, 20 more than Guerrieri, 33 more than Urrutia and 42 points more than Björk. Michelisz’s win has elevated the Hungarian driver to fifth place, trailing the points lead by 78 points.

The second and final race of the weekend at Monza starts at 11:40 CEST on Sunday.