Norbert Michelisz wins hard-fought Vila Real finale
Norbert Michelisz achieved victory in an intense second TCR World Tour race at Vila Real, with the Hungarian having to defend his lead until the chequered flag.
Michelisz kept the lead from the reverse grid pole position at the start, with Jenson Brickley following close. Jimmy Clairet launched very well, going side-by-side with Brickley, but settled in third.
Thed Björk maintained fourth from the grid, closely followed by the Cupras of Viktor Andersson and Aurélien Comte. The Geelys of Yann Ehrlacher and Santiago Urrutia followed, with Mikel Azcona up to ninth place after overtaking Ma Qing Hua.
Michelisz opened a gap at the front as Clairet and Brickley fought for second place.
Clairet and took their first joker at the end of lap four, losing two positions. Brickley was now under fire from Björk. Both Michelisz and the Briton took their first joker at the end of lap five, with the Hungarian managing to keep the race lead ahead of the Swede. Azcona came into the pits with technical issues at the end of lap five.
The safety car came into action on lap six as Stian Paulsen crashed against the barriers. Clairet retired to the pits at the end of the lap with gearbox issues, as Azcona returned to the track in 14th place and a lap down.
The race went green again on lap eight, with Michelisz maintaining the lead as Björk defended from Brickley, with the race distance extended to 16 laps.
Andersson was up to fourth place and started putting the pressure on Brickley on lap nine.
Michelisz couldn’t open a gap to Björk, with Brickley a full second behind the Geely as he defended the attacks from Andersson and Comte. The Briton served his joker lap at the end of lap ten, falling to seventh place.
The battle between Michelisz and Björk continued, allowing the Cupras behind to close the gap. The Hyundai and Geely slightly collided on lap 15, with Comte under Björk’s rear bumper on the penultimate lap.
The Swede took his joker at the end of the penultimate lap, with Michelisz leading ahead of the Cupras.
Michelisz won at the chequered flag, ahead of Comte and Andersson completing the podium.
The Geely contingent followed with Urrutia, Ehrlacher, Ma and Björk. Brickley finished eighth ahead of Mikael Karlsson, with Manuel Fernandes completing the top ten.
After the races at Vila Real, Urrutia leads the championship with 230 points, ten ahead of Azcona and 34 over Michelisz.
The next round of the 2026 TCR World Tour season takes place at Inje Speedium on the 2-4 of October.
