What you haven't seen yet: Portugal edition

2010. július 11. 18:59 | még nem szólt hozzá senki.  szerző: Viktor Adorján

While the World Touring Car Championship is enjoying a great television coverage there are always some moments that stay behind the scenes or at least end up missed by the cameras. Check 10+1 photos from Portugal that caught our attention in Portimao!

Three nights in Alvor

Representatives of the Dension were fortunate to stay in a wonderful hotel in Alvor that - as we understood in the bar - is being owned by SR-Sport driver Tiago Monteiro. The place was magnificent itself but more importantly it hosted several former or current SEAT Sport members and other team personnel including Zengő-Dension Team's Technical Director, Arnau Niubó.

Sometimes it is quite difficult to find some relaxed moments over the course of the weekend to have a chat with the team members because running five cars in two different series is a good reason for everybody to be very busy, that is why it was a great surprise and a nice opportunity to have a drink at the end of the days in a lovely environment before getting the focus back on the tasks of tomorrow.

Warm concrete everywhere

The Autodromo Internacional do Algarve is a state of the art location which is one of the most advanced venue in the calendar but several areas of the facility was lacking the soul of a racing circuit. The World Touring Car Championship and its support races were able to bring a life into the paddock but there were areas that looked more like an intersection on a highway instead a racing circuit.

This concrete wall was located just beside the SEAT Leon Supercopa paddock where getting any shadow outside the motorhomes was almost an impossible task which meant that it didn't matter where to try to relax for a second: the temperatures were high anywhere and the wind was dry and hot as well.

Master or/and apprentice?

The relationship between Zengő-Dension Team's lead driver Norbert Michelisz and Technical Director Arnau Niubó Bosch remains the key question inside the outfit as the duo is making progress in terms of working together on the highest level of touring car racing. Michelisz has successfully gained the admiration of the experienced engineer and the young driver is getting more and more familiar with the situation.

Here the two are sharing thoughts after Saturday's Free Practice 2 alone in the back of the garage as somehow everybody is working around the car or left the garage probably for having lunch. They spent around 10 minutes before going on their separate ways but continued the preparations after the lunch in the Supercopa motorhome.

The photo also reveals the huge working space compared to other circuits. The circuit is built following the F1 standards which meant that the garages were much more comfortable than we are used to and enabled the team to setup the decoration and other accessories the way the designers planned when they created the parts before the Race of Italy.

We need to look at the tyres

Following the qualification on Saturday, Norbert Michelisz was called almost immediately to be a taxi driver for the VIP personnel. This is a regular procedure for several drivers and last around two hours after the qualification. This time Norbert had a special passenger as Arnau Niubó took a seat in one of the 2 laps long runs and got out of the car with a great smile on his face.

Before letting Norbert to go away for the next turn Arnau didn't miss a second to talk to the Hungarian driver about his feeling from the qualifying as they were basically unable to discuss what happened over the qualifying because Michelisz had other obligations including his attendance of the press conference and the VIP laps.

The first ever Hungarian driver then started to push full throttle for a last run but slowed down in the middle of the 2nd lap as the brakes of the street legal SEAT overheated which let him to return to the pits and finally start to discuss the qualifying with Arnau while loud roar could be heard after Spain missed a penalty against Paraguay.

Dension Showroom comes to WTCC

For the first time in 2010 Dension, title sponsor of the Zengő-Dension Team built up an own Showroom featuring various products and items of the official Zengő-Dension Team merchandising collection. The tent was located just beside Zengő-Dension Team's WTCC garage in the paddock and welcomed several high level personalities including SEAT Sport's Jaime Puig, Eurosport's Antonios Argyropoulos and former Formula 1 driver Bertrand Gachot. The Showroom will be present in Brands Hatch as well, make sure to visit us over the course of the weekend!

Ladies make the difference

Motor racing is often criticized for being a male dominated industry but if we take a look inside we can realize that racing would be very different and probably less optimized without the input of the ladies working in different areas of the paddock. This photo features a symbolic character, a grid girl standing ahead of Norbert Michelisz's car in the extreme heat that affected everybody including them.

Poor ladies were given bottles of water in order to help them to keep up but they faced difficulties over opening the bottles and drinking because both of their hands were taken by the umbrellas and the boards featuring the starting numbers of the drivers. Zengő-Dension Team's Ildikó Szabó quickly realized the problematic nature of the situation and helped out the girl on the grid.

This was a small bit but in the same time a classic example of how ladies make the difference. The only thing they would need is to have a little support by the authorities when they're trying to do their work without being held up by various controlling measures.

Being observed

With his spectacular entrance Norbert Kiss quickly gained the attention of the competitors and the technical delegates as well. Having finished on the podium for the second time in Portimao on Sunday, Kiss's car had to be sent to the scrutineering where it was revealed that there is a problem with the documentation of the ECU device in his car. The number of the device and therefore the device itself was mismatching but checks showed that the team didn't modify the factory supplied unit which meant that the team appealed the exclusion without a second thought.

The scrutineering took place next to the SEAT Leon Supercopa motorhome of the Zengő-Dension Team in a detached motorhome where only a few selected mechanics were allowed to enter. This is a regular but strictly controlled procedure that takes place always when a car gets onto the podium. Fortunately with Gábor Wéber's and Norbert Kiss's successes, this is getting a regular task for the team.

On the sideline

Race of Portugal marked the first and only time this year when the WTCC and the Spanish SEAT Leon Supercopa raced together which meant that Norbert Kiss, driver in the Spanish championship reunited his former rival Norbert Michelisz who is now driving in the world championship. The two drivers are keeping up a good and productive friendship and they're showing mutual interest towards each other's career but it is still moving to see a former rival showing support to his team mate who is currently higher in the ranks than him.

Kiss is now following Michelisz's footsteps in the Spanish SEAT Leon Supercopa. Having missed the first round of the series in Valencia, he has no realistic chance to be the champion this year but he showed that he is on the pace of the leaders which is certainly a good sign for the future.

"Good luck Norbert"

Slight nervousness was in the air as Zengő-Dension Team and Norbert Michelisz prepared for the start of Race 2 in Portugal from 2nd on the grid. We all hoped that this time the start will be going well but when the car is still on the grid, nobody can do anything apart from doing the routines and prepare the car as well as possible. These minutes are all about being focused therefore the radio exchanges are strictly limited, only the most important sentences are being said.

In this atmosphere every word has its own value. It was remarkable to hear Technical Director Arnau Niubó saying "Good luck Norbert" to Michelisz when he was asked to leave the grid as a part of the final stages of the starting procedure. "General Arnau", as Ildikó Szabó labeled our Race Engineer then walked off the grid and saw Michelisz taking the lead shortly after the start. Then the luck drew back from the duo.

Minutes of eternity

Race 2 brought a breakthrough for Norbert Michelisz and the Zengő-Dension Team as the Hungarian driver was leading a WTCC race for the first time ever. Michelisz got off the grid with a comfortable lead that made Team Principal and founder Zoltán Zengő very enthusiastic and vigilant between Dension's CEO Attila Szijj (right) and his assistant Lehel Kákonyi (left).

The trio of chiefs witnessed Michelisz showing a spectacular performance while he was forced to defend himself because his engine was not doing its best before being passed by his opponents. The wonder was gone quickly as Michelisz had to return into the pits with his overheating engine on Lap 4 when it was obvious that he will not be able to get a result that he would deserve.

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