Norbert Michelisz celebrates historic podium on home soil

2011. június 4. 18:16  szerző: Viktor Adorján

55.000 fans hailed Norbert Michelisz’s historic second place on Hungary’s maiden WTCC race at the Hungaroring. Michelisz and Zengő Dension Team became celebrated heroes as both Michelisz both his mechanics proved their talent on and off the track as well. WTCC will return to Hungary in 2012.

Norbert Michelisz and Zengő Dension Team clinched a remarkable second place and a fastest lap in the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy on Race 2 with a heavily crashed car; this is the short summary of the Hungarian WTCC round but the whole weekend was so much larger than that.

Hungaroring was given a spot in the calendar following the withdrawal of the Moroccan organizers and both the circuit, the organizers, the fans, the team and its partners proved their expertise over the four days of the weekend.

The mad buzz was started on Wednesday with a press conference in Symbol Budapest to be followed by another one downtown in the city along numerous media events for Norbert right until the beginning of the first test session at the Hungaroring.

Norbert had collected a huge knowledge on the tips and tricks of the circuit but vowed not to get carried away by his slight advantage in terms of competitiveness. Especially since SUNRED introduced their 1.6 turbo engines which meant that the Hungaroring was where the championship really started.

Dissatisfying qualification

Zengő Dension Team was under an unusually large pressure over the weekend thanks to the loving fans and friends all around every members of the team. This affected Norbert’s performance as the Hungarian driver took 5th on the grid behind Alain Menu, Yvan Muller, Javier Villa and Tom Coronel.

Michelisz vowed to overcome the less than optimal performance for Sunday as he believed that his car carried unexploited potential that he was eager to use on the races at the Hungaroring in front of the home crowd that was reasonably even on Saturday.

Celebration

It was in the air over the entire weekend that Race of Hungary would become a racing festival starring Norbert Michelisz and the huge crowd made it sure that the atmosphere would become incomparable to anything that the team have experienced.

A giant Hungarian flag consisting 5000 fans was shown on the main grandstand at the Hungaroring before Race 1 got underway and the enthusiasm didn’t get low-key later either; Especially following Norbert Michelisz’s sensational start that saw him taking P2 right after Turn 1.

Michelisz was running behind Chevrolet’s Alain Menu and did his best to try to attack the Swiss driver but eventually he settled down for 2nd, a historic finish in the Hungarian motorsport. Michelisz was celebrated like a real hero by fans who were chanting “Norbi, Norbi, Norbi” for minutes after he got out of the car and stepped onto the podium with a National Flag in his hands.

Race 2 brought a real drama as Michelisz crashed into Mehdi Bennani and Kristian Poulsen at the start and damaged his car seriously. Initially it was looking like the crash would rule out Michelisz of Race 2 but a sudden downpour called for red flag while the mechanics of Zengő Dension Team repaired the badly damaged BMW 320 TC.

The heroic effort by the mechanics was also applauded by the fans and Norbert also said thank you by taking the fastest lap in the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy using slick tyres on the drying track. The Sunday was a rollercoaster of emotions for Norbert and the whole team: happiness and bitterness was mixed but the enthusiasm of the fans gave an unprecedented power to everybody involved.

It was a remarkable experience. Thank you and see you next year!