Michelisz joins WTCC with Zengő Dension Team
2010. március 1. 11:37 szerző: Viktor Adorján
SEAT Leon EuroCup champion Norbert Michelisz becomes the first ever Hungarian driver to start an entire season in the FIA World Touring Car Championship with Zengő Dension Team. Last year the Hungarian operation helped Michelisz to claim a total 5 victories and 7 podium finishes in the single-brand support series of the WTCC, and to gain a second chance to drive a petrol-powered SEAT Leon in Brands Hatch, on the British round of the world championship.
The season opener races in Curitiba on the 7th of March 2010 will then be the third occasion that Michelisz hits the track in the field of the WTCC and the 2nd time that the Hungarian driver will have the possibility to compete using the 2009 world champion SEAT Leon TDI. Michelisz was the first ever privateer driver to get a chance to race with the factory-developed racecar, and went on to win the first round of the FIA European Touring Car Cup last year in Braga.
Norbert Michelisz gets one of the only seven available SEAT Leon TDIs, the one that was previously driven by former works driver Rickard Rydell. The Swede is not going to return to the series in 2010 but Michelisz still faces a great competition as reigning world champion Gabriele Tarquini, former Formula One driver Tiago Monteiro, former ETCC champion Michel Nykjaer, SEAT factory test driver Jordi Gené, Tom Coronel, Michelisz’ former occasional teammate and former EuroCup rival Fredy Barth will use the same equipment.
Michelisz said “It is a dream that comes true! It feels great that everything we worked on together becomes reality. I expect tough fights as there are many great drivers in the series, but I think that with our car and experience we can be competitive.”
The next chapter of a successful campaign
Zengő Motorsport and Dension Ltd. joined their forces at the beginning of the 2009 season after the team had successfully evolved from the Hungarian racing scene and entered the maiden season of the SEAT Leon EuroCup to support its drivers to claim two race victories and the very first WTCC guest outing for Michelisz in Okayama 2008.
Since then the operation has proved its capabilities in the single-brand support series of the world championship and gained SEAT’s backing to become one of the two factory-supported teams, in fact the only team that earned the right to run a car beside SEAT’s long-term partner SUNRED Engineering. The move is a result of the decision by the Spanish manufacturer to re-orientate its motorsport activities and to focus on the backing of private teams.
This means that Zengő-Dension Team will have the chance to exploit the potential of the current world champion technology with the knowledge of a former factory race engineer Arnau Niubó Bosch – who has already worked with Norbert Michelisz – and the proven expertise of the Zengő Dension Team’s crew.
Team Principal Zoltán Zengő commented: “It makes me proud that we are going to be the first Hungarian team in the WTCC thanks to our partners, especially Dension Ltd. that is the main sponsor. It is a huge challenge for us; however we have already proven that we are capable to be competitive.”
Therefore the team is aiming is to be in contention for the 2010 FIA World Touring Car Championship Independent’s Trophy and occasionally give a hard time for BMW’s and Chevrolet’s works teams featuring three times world champion Andy Priaulx and 2008 winner Yvan Muller who also used to drive a SEAT Leon TDI.
Team manager György Juni told Zengő Dension Team’s Hungarian sister-site zengodensionteam.com: “We wouldn’t like to start carrying impossible pressures but it is a fact that to conquer the Independent’s Trophy might be a real aim. As a privateer team it is not really likely that we would be in position to fight against the works teams, but the qualifications might hold surprises for us.”
12 weekends all over the world – live
The 2010 FIA World Touring Car Championship consist 24 races in 12 different countries worldwide, including state of the art locations like Portimao in Portugal, historical circuits like Monza, Brands Hatch or Zolder, and unique venues on the streets of Marrakech and Macau.
The season starts on the 7th of March 2010 and lasts until the 21st of November 2010 when the checkered flag finally drop down. Almost every official action will be aired live by Eurosport’s two channels that reach 116 million homes across 59 European countries.
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