Under pouring rain and on a very wet track, Norbert Michelisz placed his Hyundai Elantra on pole position for this afternoon’s Race 1 at Zhejiang Circuit.
It was the first pole of the season for the Hungarian driver in the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour; he beat his BRC Hyundai teammate Mikel Azcona – the current points leader – whose closest title contender Geely Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia qualified third.
In Q1, Ma Qing Hua posted the first significant time of 1:45.819 and then bettered it to 1:45.182, with Michelisz, Azcona and Urrutia the other drivers capable of run under 1:46.
After seven minutes, Andy Liang Wenyao went off at T13, and the red flag was waved to allow the recovery of his Hyundai from the gravel trap.
When the session resumed, Azcona (1:45.554) and Thed Björk (1:45.939) moved up into second and fourth respectively; then the Spaniard improved his lap time to 1:45.492, but not his position, and so did Michelisz with 1:49.698. However, just before the end, Yann Ehrlacher posted a 1:45.253 demoting the Hyundai pair to third and fourth, then Michelisz lost another place when Björk’s was clocked at 1:45.567 on his last lap.
At the end of the first lap in Q2, Michelisz and Azcona set the fastest laps of 1:45.285 and 1:45.679, with Urrutia third in 1:45.959. Everybody but Björk pitted for a new set of tyres and went off for a second run; nobody managed to improve except ma who climbed to fourth ahead of Ehrlacher and Aurélien Comte.
Lo Sze Ho in P8 and Diego Moran in P10 topped the Guest Star Trophy and TCR Asia respectively, with the Ecuadorian winning the provisional pole for Race 2.
The first race is scheduled for 15:00 local time (09:00 CEST).
A delighted Michelisz commented: “It feels very good! I’ve been waiting for this one! Mikel has been superfast this season, so he hasn’t left me many chances, but now it was my time. The car was working fine, I managed to put together a very good lap, and it’s fantastic to be on pole again.”
Qualifying
1:45.285 – Norbert Michelisz (BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N EV)
1:45.679 – Mikel Azcona (BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N EV)
1:45.959 – Santiago Urrutia (Geely Cyan Racing, Geely Preface)
Championship points
- M. Azcona, 383 pts.; 2. S. Urrutia, 358; 3. N. Michelisz, 337
Picture: WSC/Paddocker
