When Michelisz became King of WTCR two months on

February 16th, 2020 | 2020 |

Two months ago, Norbert Michelisz was preparing to head home to Hungary as the King of WTCR following his triumph in the four-way title showdown in Sepang for BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse.

During a night of celebration in Malaysia, the 35-year-old gave an interview to WTCR All Access. This is what he told reporter Alexandra Legouix.

On his emotions…

“I just tried to understand what had happened. Of all the championships you want to win, clearly for me it was this one. But after a day like today, I really wasn’t sure if I was making the start.”

On his car worries…

“There was some mechanical problem. It sounded awful and when I went on the throttle, I realised something was wrong so I needed to reset again. But then it was working and I was able to race.”

On the deciding race…

“I knew before Race 3 I needed to somehow finish P3 and avoid doing something silly. Esteban [Guerrieri] was the one who had to take a risk. He went for it, I just tried to be clever. I realised I didn’t have the pace and people from the back started to come.

“Braking for Turn 9 and even for 10 I had a clash with an Audi and thought at that point my rear-left must be bent. And then Johan [Kristoffersson] came at Turn 12 from the left and I was really in the thick of all the things. At that point, being fourth, I realised something needed to happen because I didn’t have the pace of the guys in front.

“When the safety car came out, I managed to recover the gap and when it came in, I went flat out. We were three cars side by side at Turn 14 and it was all or nothing trying to go for it. I realised Johan and Mikel [Azcona] had fantastic pace. I needed to finish third so I went for it. But in the end, I saw the guys in front were giving Esteban a hard time and the key thing was that Johan and Mikel were in the two fastest cars.”

On the last lap…

“Approaching the last corner, Gabriele [Tarquini] was behind me and I knew that I would not have any problems from the cars behind him. Crossing the finish line… I am not a person to get so emotional, but with everything happening at the same time you realise it’s just a huge pressure coming off the shoulders in one second. You understand it’s a dream of yourself, it’s a dream of a lot of people in Hungary.”