Autosportfoto

Why it was not WTCR racer Norbi’s day in Ningbo

Norbert Michelisz has spoken of his disappointment after the ace Hungarian had a day to forget in the WTCR - FIA World Touring Car Cup presented by OSCARO.

After qualifying P2 in Second Qualifying at the Ningbo International Speedpark on Sunday, Michelisz had high hopes of bagging his second win of the season but would ultimately be left with a fifth place as scant consolation.

"It was a disappointing day, I was hoping for more especially after qualifying," said the Hyundai-powered BRC Racing Team driver. "The car was working quite good on one lap but in the race I was struggling a lot with the front and I lost the tyres after a couple of laps. My pace was just never enough to challenge people in the front so my main focus was on defending. It was very difficult for me to extract more out of [Sunday]."

Having retired from Saturday's opening counter with powersteering failure, Michelisz dropped out of the top 10 in Race 2 when a five-second penalty was handed down after officials declared he gained an unfair advantage during a battle with Nathanaël Berthon.

"I was a bit unfortunate with the penalty because I was pushed from behind at the last chicane," Michelisz explained. "But in the end it seems I gained an advantage and because of that I received a five-second penalty, which put me out of the points. Anyway it's not a race win that I lost, I am more sorry for the third race because starting from second I really wanted to do a big push. But like I said I never had the pace to challenge for a podium."

Zdroj: fiawtcr.com