Flashback: Michelisz earns first WTCC outing

2010. május 19. 23:49 | még nem szólt hozzá senki.  szerző: Viktor Adorján

Monza is where everything got serious back in 2008: after four consecutive pole positions Norbert Michelisz claimed his first international victory and earned the right to be the first Hungarian driver in the modern era of the WTCC. Take a look back with us for the historical weekend!

With two race weekends into the 2010 FIA WTCC season we all start to get comfortable with the thought that Norbert Michelisz is a regular driver in the world championship and carrying the promise of a good result in the top level of touring car racing.

Twenty months ago it was not a reality even if it was close: After many promising showings, blistering laptimes and surprises, Norbert Michelisz was preparing for the last race of the 2008 SEAT Leon EuroCup, the last chance to earn the right to drive a petrol-powered SEAT Leon in the FIA WTCC.

The aim was simple: having proved his raw speed by his three consecutive pole positions, Michelisz and his team, Zengő Motorsport was trying to avoid the troubles that had hindered them over the course of the season because everybody knew that Michelisz would be able to win if he was given a car that lasts the race distance and he can avoid the possible accidents that might put him out of the action.

Sadly, Michelisz only had limited chance to prove his talent on the races. Despite being often the fastest driver on the practices, he couldn’t turn his pole positions into race victories because of the several racing incidents and technical problems he suffered.

All eyes were then focusing for the season finale in Monza, as the legendary circuit hosted the last round of the inaugural SEAT Leon EuroCup, the series that was the only real gate for a Hungarian youngster and his ambitious team to break into the FIA WTCC.

Being observed

Norbert Michelisz topped the timesheet of the first practice session in Monza and started the weekend in a very good form as he beat Croatian Marin Colak by 0.381 seconds with his 2:02.824. Michelisz’s speed was immediately satisfying and the initial good showing was needed because Colak did impressive sector times over the course of the second practice but failed to put a lap together to make his progress visible for the others.

The Croatian driver was 0.010 seconds slower than Michelisz’s time on the first session but the Hungarian youngster wasn’t able to keep his pace as he went on to do a 2:03.794 and ended up fourth in the order. The situation was partly caused by the first symptoms of the problems detected in the way the turbocharger was working in Michelisz’s and Gábor Wéber’s cars so that the team decided to replace the intercoolers and spark plugs in both engines.

A crucial qualifying session followed the actions on Saturday; it was a deciding 30 minutes session in terms of the weekend as a good starting position was essential in surviving the first corner after the start.

Michelisz started the session with two pretty weak laptimes but his initial pace was only lasting until he got a new set of tyres that enabled him to do the weekend’s fastest laptime with a Leon Supercopa; his 2:01.878 was a dominant performance and resulted him his fourth pole position in a row followed by Oscar Nogués, Gábor Wéber and Marin Colak.

Breakthrough victory

A pole sitter racecar is always the subject of a technical scrutineering but Michelisz’s Leon was inspected strictly after his fourth pole in a row. As a result of the procedure the team had to work in a hurry to setup the car for the race but despite the nervous atmosphere Michelisz was able to lineup for the grid to try to keep his lead and his hopes to earn the WTCC entry alive.

It was obvious that much will depend on the first lap especially the way the field takes the first corner. Michelisz then wasn’t very strong when it came to the rolling starts but in Monza he was able to keep his lead out of the chicane and could take advantage of a racing incident that ended Gábor Wéber’s race and 2008 season as he was forced to drive into the gravel to avoid Oscar Nogués’s car.

The Spaniard later emerged as the main opponent for Michelisz over the course of the race as he was showing a better pace than the Hungarian driver but Nogués was unable to launch any serious attack to take the lead and eventually had to settle down second behind Michelisz who clinched his first ever international victory in Monza leading from start to finish.

Winning for the first time on Saturday was a big relief for both the driver and his team because previously whole weekends had to be thrown out following technical problems or accidents on the first race which meant that Michelisz lost every chance to get the steering wheel of the WTCC Leon.

Spectacular gesture from SEAT Sport

While everybody was delighted that Michelisz finally finished on top the engineers were busy with finding out why his pace was dropped back for the race. They were joined by the experts of the SEAT Sport who asserted the telemetry data of the car and realized that the turbo pressure was lower than it should have been. The reaction was straightforward: they offered a new turbocharger free of charge for the team to support Michelisz to be able to go for the WTCC seat from 8^th on the grid.

All he needed to do was to bring the car home but a collision pushed him back to 14^th after the first corner. At that point it was looking hard to get back into the points but two laps later Michelisz was 7^th and after a nice battle with Diego Puyo and James Nash he finished 5^th.

Michelisz ended the races with the highest point score among the drivers who previously didn’t participate in the FIA WTCC and earned the right to be the 6^th racer to measure himself in the world championship in Okayama.

"I still have those memories inside. That result in 2008 was maybe one of the most important success of my career. Now I'm looking at it as an additional advantage because I've driven on that track and I think it is obvious that I've a nostalgic feeling. Anyway, I love this circuit," said Norbert Michelisz.

What was a very distant dream at the beginning of the season turned into a reality for Norbert Michelisz and Zengő Motorsport: over the course of the season the Hungarian youngster and his team evolved from the Hungarian racing scene and established themselves as a strong competitor in the field to claim a unique possibility to race in the world touring car championship.

Photos by SEAT Sport

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