Norbert Michelisz secures victory in a race of attrition at Monza

Norbert Michelisz has disrupted his drought of success with a lights-to-flag victory in the first race of the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour at Monza. A race that was anything but plain sailing, with trouble hitting many of his rivals.

Championship leader Yann Ehrlacher came through to finish second, while former championship leader Esteban Guerrieri put on a star drive to go from tenth to fifth.

Michelisz got away well from pole, while Aurélien Comte managed to get around the outside of the second-placed Mikel Azcona into T1 to move into P2. Further behind there was trouble as Ma Qing Hua clipped the rear of John Filippi’s car and spun him into Ruben Volt. Ma and Filippi retired, while Volt was able to rejoin.

Michelisz was under pressure from Comte, with the French driver making a near successful dive at Variante del Rettifilo, but Michelisz slightly cut the corner to stay ahead. Comte then went wide at Lesmo 2 and ran into the gravel; he managed to rejoin without losing positions, but at the end of the lap he retired with a front-left puncture and. On the same lap, Santiago Urrutia gave up fourth to teammate Thed Bjork before pulling into the pits with a turbo issue; one lap later Azcona was the next of the main contenders to hit trouble with tyres, and came into the pits, with Ehrlacher now up to second ahead of Björk. Guerrieri continued to charge through the order and on the final lap he passed Néstor Girolami for fifth, crossing the line just behind his teammate Ignacio Montenegro.

Nothing could stop Michelisz from claiming the victory, 1.7 seconds clear of Ehrlacher.

The best of the guest stars was Damiano Reduzzi who avoided troubles to finish an impressive seventh, ahead of Jacopo Cimenes who recovered to eighth despite starting from the pit lane having just taken part in the TCR Italy race just before.

Ehrlacher continues to lead the championship and is now 20 points clear of Guerrieri who moves back to second position, while Michelisz has climbed to fifth, 78 points behind.

The second race starts at 11:40 local time on Sunday morning, with the Hyundai of Girolami on pole.

Race 1

1. Norbert Michelisz (BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N), 11 laps
2. Yann Ehrlacher (Lynk & Co Cyan Racing, Lynk & Co 03 FL)
3. Thed Björk (Lynk & Co Cyan Racing, Lynk & Co 03 FL)

Championship points

1. Y. Ehrlacher, 183 pts; 2. E. Guerrieri, 163; 3. S. Urrutia, 150

Picture: WSC/Fastclick