Consistency is king as Norbert Michelisz enters final season half in extended lead
Norbert Michelisz emerged from what the BRC Hyundai drivers flagged as a potentially difficult FIA TCR World Tour weekend at Interlagos in Brazil with an extended points lead as the championship heads into the final half of the season.
The Hungarian driver continued his consistent performance to climb from tenth to finish sixth in the first race and kept calm in the reversed grid second race to win from pole, despite hard pressure from Lynk & Co’s Ma Qing Hua.
“It was fantastic. To be honest, I did not dream of winning the race today,” said Michelisz.
“But I drove without any mistakes, there was big pressure from behind, but the car was working well in the corners. So, huge thanks to the team and I’m really happy because of the points.”
Michelisz heads the standings on 196 points while Race 1 winner Esteban Guerrieri has climbed to second place, 15 points behind.
“We needed to score big, and we knew this was our opportunity as those that are leading the championship have kilos,” said Guerrieri.
“I had a good start, which was key, and then I managed to contain Santi for the first few laps, and after that I just managed the tyres. A big thanks to the team because we’re a small team, but with a lot of passion and dedication.”
Next up for the TCR World Tour field is El Pinar in Uruguay on August 3-4.