Norbert Michelisz starts from the pole in this afternoon’s race ahead of teammate Mikel Azcona, with the two working together to score the squad’s first 1-2 in qualifying since Mid-Ohio last year, but the Hungarian expects a tough race with the cars behind benefitting from the tow.
Azcona first handed Michelisz a slipstream, before Michelisz returned the favour at the end, ensuring a 1-2 result for the team, while a ballasted Néstor Girolami benefitted from tenth and so secures the reversed grid pole for Race 2.
“We did a perfect job today,” said Michelisz. “The car balance was great, I was confident to push, but the key to be on pole and the first row was the slipstreaming. You always struggle to find the right distance, but I was lucky enough just to have the right distance from Mikel on my first run in Q2. We agreed this strategy, and at this point in the championship we are behind, so we need to maximise every possibility from a team perspective. We’re in a position where we need to collect as many points as possible.”
Heading into the race this afternoon, Michelisz expects keeping in front will be tough, with the chasing pack benefitting from the tow behind.
“Weight will have a bigger effect than Valencia, but the slipstream gives you half a second, so without the slipstream you will not see these gaps like we saw in qualifying,” he explained. “OK, we’ll have clean air out front which will help the tyres, but there won’t be two cars and then a gap like we saw in qualifying, it’ll be packed, so I think it’ll be a fun race.”
Picture: WSC/Fastclick
