Michelisz still Hungary for success in Italy
TCR WORLD TOUR VALLELUNGA (ITA) 20-21 APRIL ROUND 1/7
Hyundai Motorsport’s BRC Racing Team customer squad took pole and won both races with its newly upgraded Elantra N TCR at Vallelunga, with reigning champion Norbert Michelisz converting pole to victory in race one, before new signing Nestor Girolami turned the reversed-grid pole to a race two win.
Michelisz left it until the final moment in qualifying to pull out a time 0.2 seconds clear of Lynk & Co Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher to snatch pole, which the Frenchman said he’d not have been able to beat.
Heavy rainfall in the afternoon meant the field started on a slippery track, but dry enough that all opted for slicks. Michelisz didn’t get away well and fell behind Ehrlacher, but then drafted past him on the straight on lap three of 15 when Ehrlacher put a wheel on the painted line and lost traction.
Esteban Guerrieri, returning to touring car competition after competing in the World Endurance Championship last year, briefly threatened for second in his Honda Civic, run by new team GOAT Racing, whose team manager is former world tin-top race winner Pepe Oriola. But Guerrieri’s challenge quickly faded, and he settled into the final podium spot.
In the second race, Girolami, who’d deliberately targeted the top 10 reversed grid knowing he didn’t have the pace of his Hungarian team-mate, launched off the line well and kept the lead throughout ahead of the Lynk & Co of Santiago Urrutia.
The race was suspended behind the safety car on the first lap after local racer Filippo Barberi, who’d first jumped the start from 15th on the grid by some margin, and even briefly got ahead of Michelisz in 10th, slid off at Turn 3 and collected the Audi of Moroccan Sami Taoufik. The two collided again at
Turn 8 and stopped on circuit, both requiring recovery. The race resumed for less than half a lap before another contender from the local Coppa Italia Turismo series, Victor Fernandez, spun and hit the barriers at Turn 3.
Once the race got going again, Girolami and Urrutia pulled away from an exciting battle, with the Honda of Marco Butti holding back the Lynk & Co of Ma Qing Hua, and the Honda of Guerrieri just behind.
Former WTCR champion Ehrlacher was given a mechanical black flag and pitted to secure his bonnet, which had come loose after contact at the Turn 11 hairpin at the start of the race. Though he was able to stay on the lead lap, he could only recover to 14th.
On lap 11 of 17, Guerrieri clipped the rear of Ma’s Lynk & Co and was able to get past the Chinese driver, who was then unsettled and passed by the chasing train and dropped to ninth. Guerrieri was handed a penalty postrace, which dropped him to eighth.
Michelisz now leads the standings on 61 points ahead of Hyundai team-mate Mikel Azcona, who was fourth in both races, with rookie Butti in third before the series resumes at the Marrakech street circuit on 3-4 May.