Norbert Michelisz withstands pressure to claim vital Race 2 win

Norbert Michelisz withstood pressure from Ma Qing Hua to claim a vital victory in the second FIA TCR World Tour race of the weekend at Interlagos, extending his championship lead.

The BRC Hyundai driver started from the reversed grid pole position and made the best start to head the field into Turn 1.

Disaster struck Michelisz’s title rival Yann Ehrlacher on the opening lap who got sandwiched between Raphael Reis and Néstor Girolami.

The Frenchman and Girolami were forced to pit due to damage, with Girolami rejoining on the same lap while Ehrlacher rejoined three laps behind to finish in 20th position, a big blow to the Lynk & Co driver’s title hopes.

Girolami meanwhile was able to fight his way back up through the order to finish eleventh.

The safety car was brought out on lap two following an incident between Thiago Vivacqua and Juan Manuel Casella, sending Honda driver Casella hard into the barriers and into retirement.

The race resumed shortly after, with Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia snatching fourth from Peugeot driver Rafael Suzuki.

Honda drivers Esteban Guerrieri and Marco Butti were next in line to pass Suzuki, claiming fifth and sixth one corner and one lap later respectively.

Former Formula E driver Ma piled the pressure on Michelisz for the lead at mid-point of the race, but could not get close enough to seriously attempt an overtake.

The Chinese driver then let team-mates Thed Björk and Urrutia past with five minutes left of the race.

Urrutia was then hit with a five second penalty for overtaking Guerrieri outside of track limits earlier in the race, a decision which saw Ma trying to slow Guerrieri down and create a bigger gap.

But it was not enough, with Urrutia crossing the line in third but dropping down to fifth behind Ma and Guerrieri.

Michelisz won the race by close to three seconds ahead of Björk who continues his strong form that he started in the previous race at Mid-Ohio.

Butti was sixth over the line ahead of Filippi, who retired from the first race, while Suzuki rounded off the top eight as the best TCR South America driver.

Michelisz has extended his points lead to 15 points over Guerrieri, with Ehrlacher dropping to third, 32 points behind. Björk has climbed to fourth, 37 points adrift.

The next TCR World Tour race takes place in Uruguay on August 3-4.