Michelisz takes 5th on thrilling qualifying

2010. szeptember 4. 22:38 | még nem szólt hozzá senki.  szerző: Viktor Adorján

Norbert Michelisz deemed the qualification for tomorrow's Race of Germany the most difficult one of his life as changeable weather conditions and various accidents created a real thriller out of the 30 minutes session. Michelisz finished 5th and become the fastest driver with a SEAT.

Before the weekend it was Norbert Michelisz who said that it would be satisfying to be close to reigning world champion Gabriele Tarquini who is driving an identical racecar in terms of technical details. With the 10 place grid penalty carried over from Brno in his mind, Michelisz geared up for a weekend when pure performance and the will to take risks is the only way to shine.

Practices were disturbed by crashes and weather conditions both made the life of the teams harder as fewer tracktime was available to fine tuning the setups for the qualification. It was even more difficult to get a picture about the pecking order so the team went into qualifying with the aim to advance into Q2 but without a clear impression of what will happen.

The circuit dried up completely in time for the qualification and the weather was also surprisingly shiny compared to the worrying darkness that overshadowed the morning. For Norbert Michelisz the 20 minutes long first installment got underway later than for the majority of the field as he completed his first timed lap 8 minutes into the session which was a 1:37.462 and put him onto 10th on the timesheet.

Initial difficulties

Michelisz's first attempt wasn't faultless, he went off the track over the course of his first and second timed lap, which forced him to drive back into the pits. In time of his second off track drive his engine stalled and the Hungarian driver had difficulties over restarting it but eventually he made it into the pits and he could continue the session.

Only 6 minutes were left of the session and Michelisz was outside the advancing first 10 drivers. It was not a disastrous but certainly a worrying situation, most of the team personnel showed the visible signs of nervousness especially when 4 minutes before the end of the session Tiago Monteiro crashed his car and the session was stopped with just 3:32 seconds remaining.

It was the time of a strategic decision; Michelisz then used up two new sets of tyres and had one more lap in which he certainly needed a decent improvement in order to advance. After consulting with team principal Zoltán Zengő and team manager György Juni, technical director Arnau Niubó decided to put on the third and last set of new tires and send Michelisz back on track.

Rookie Challenge rival Fredy Barth led the series of cars attempting to do a better laptime, he was followed by Norbert Michelisz who could witness with his own eyes that the Swiss driver made a mistake and ended up in the gravel trap right ahead of him. This happening didn't get out Michelisz of his rhythm and he reached a 1:36.131 and got initially the 3rd later the 5th position in Q1.

Chevrolet's Robert Huff topped the timesheet at the end of Q1 with an impressive 1:35.518, the British driver was more than half a second faster than Gabriele Tarquini's 1:36.027. On the 5th place Norbert Michelisz was only 0.104 seconds slower than Tarquini which was enough for Jordi Gené and Yvan Muller to get ahead of him but behind the reigning world champion. Chevrolet's Alain Menu, BMW's Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx and SR-Sport's Tom Coronel and Tiago Monteiro also advanced into Q2.

Photos from qualifying

Rain plays its role

Over the few minutes available between Q1 and Q2 the wind got stronger and the outlook become darker again which was a clear indication that rain is coming again. The only question was the exact timing of its arrival but teams didn't have to wait for so long to get the answer.

Drivers had to turn on their windscreen wipers by the time the first one, Chevrolet's Yvan Muller started his flying lap 8 minutes before the end of the session. The circuit quickly became damp and drivers faced difficulties in terms of keeping their cars on the circuit. Norbert Michelisz also showed some spectacular slides but managed to reach a 6th position as a result of his first effort.

There was time for a second chance which was the final shot for Michelisz with his already used tires on an even more slippery surface but this didn't stop him to improve his laptime for a 1:38.634 and take 5th position.

It happened a few moments before Alain Menu lost control of his Chevrolet and crashed into Robert Huff's car and Gabriele Tarquini also had a big shunt and damaged his car considerably. These accidents along with the increasing intensity of the rainfall prompted another red flag which brought effectively the end of the session.

As the rain got heavier it was obvious that nobody will go out in a bid to try to be faster than he used to and Michelisz even started to walk to the press conference but his engineer called him back because the session wasn't officially over.

These were the minutes when the team realized that Norbert Michelisz finished as the fastest driver among the SEAT Leon TDI cars and also ended up as the best rookie once again. 5th place means that he will start from 15th on the grid as a result of his 10 place grid penalty for being involved in a crash with Colin Turkington and Yvan Muller.

In the end Augusto Farfus took pole position with his 1:38.070 ahead Robert Huff (1:38.176) and world championship contender Andy Priaulx (1:38.186). Alain Menu took 4th with 1:38.445 ahead Michelisz, Tarquini, Tom Coronel, Yvan Muller and Tiago Monteiro who was forced to sit out the session following his accident.

Michelisz to attack tomorrow

Norbert Michelisz called the qualification for the 2010 Race of Germany as the "most difficult of his life" partially because he would have chosen it to be dry but admitted that the rain might have helped him and in overall was very happy for the result and for his ability to fight for the top spots in Oschersleben.

"I managed to go to Q2 on just the last attempt of the Q1. I was not sure if I am in Q2 or not. Actually we found a really, really good setup. In the free practices I was using an old set of tires and we were close to be 10th and I knew that on new tires I will have the pace to be competitive and that is how it goes," he commented.

"My strategy for the weekend is to take risks. I want to be in the top 8 in the first race so for me everything will be about the first couple of laps and I would like to get a really good start on Race 1. That will decide my weekend. I will either crash or gain some places," he stated.

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