Norbert Michelisz takes maiden victory in the FIA World Touring Car Championship

2010. november 21. 07:59 | még nem szólt hozzá senki.  szerző: Viktor Adorján

The 2010 Race of Macau is turned into a historic event for the Hungarian motorsport by Norbert Michelisz and Zengő-Dension Team as the Rookie driver claimed his maiden victory in the FIA WTCC. Michelisz led the race from start to finish and reached 9th place in the championship.

There was a time when Norbert Michelisz’s standing starts were the topic of an ongoing discussion in various areas of the paddock. From the garages to the media centre across the walkways, it was possible to bump into somebody who asked whether Michelisz found a solution for stalling on the grid in Marrakech and Zolder.

Times have changed since the early stage of the summer. The first indication for that was in Algarve when Michelisz took the lead after starting from 2nd on the grid but he successfully exceeded that start on Race 2 of Macau.

The Hungarian driver began the race from 4th on the grid behind Kristian Poulsen, Alain Menu and Augusto Farfus. Surprisingly Menu stalled on the grid but Michelisz did the start of the year and immediately avoided the Swiss driver’s car and got past Farfus as well. Then it was only a matter of time for Michelisz to take the lead as he took advantage of the slipstream of the BMW.

Michelisz’s main opponent was Gabriele Tarquini who also tried to use Michelisz’s slipstream and aimed to overtake him but Zengő-Dension Team’s driver defended the inside line and entered Sector 2 where overtaking is not possible unless somebody makes a mistake.

A small margin was created by Michelisz ahead Tarquini by the end of Sector 2 but then a multiple car crash occurred down in the order which prompted a red flag and the suspension of the race to let the marshalls to clean the track.

Gallery of Race 2

Race 2 was relaunched after a lengthy break with a rolling start that didn’t cause any problems in the field and the race was able to continue in an undisturbed fashion. Norbert Michelisz was cautious to create a gap between him and Gabriele Tarquini and while the Italian driver was able to close in on him, he couldn’t launch any serious attack to take over the lead.

The Hungarian driver established himself as the leader by Sector 2 and stayed focused not to make any mistake in Sector 2 and keep being fast in Sector 3 and Sector 1 in order to conserve his lead and minor but strong gap over the 2009 world champion.

TV cameras soon moved to follow other actions on the track as Michelisz’s position was not under attack but movements spiced up racing in the other sections in the field. First Robert Huff and Yvan Muller got past Augusto Farfus then Huff went after Gabriele Tarquini in order to try to catch him to take over the 2nd position in the overall standings.

Eventually, Huff was not successful; he had to settle down for third in Macau and in the standings as well but Sunday afternoon was more about Norbert Michelisz and his maiden victory in the FIA World Touring Car Championship.

Zengő-Dension Team’s driver was leading from start to finish and become the first ever Hungarian driver to take a victory on a circuit racing world championship and the first rookie driver this season to win in the overall classification. All this happened at the most difficult, therefore one of the most prestigious races of the world.

The combination of Michelisz’s victory and fifth place on Race 1 also means that the Hungarian driver finished 9th in the overall classification and managed to exceed the 100 point dream line on his maiden season in the highest level of touring car racing.  

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