Norbert Michelisz won the first race of the last race weekend of the TCR World Tour in Macau, taking an important step towards the championship title. Behind him, Néstor Girolami and Robb Huff crossed the finish line, while Mikel Azcona and Frédéric Vervisch completed the top five. Yann Ehrlecher ran sixth.
ads1
Michelisz was the first to cross the finish line in Macau
Norbert Michelisz won the pole position in Friday's qualifying session in Macau, thanks to which he not only regained the lead in the individual overall, but also had a great chance to start from the front and further increase his advantage before Sunday's final race. Although teammate Mikel Azcona qualified in second place, the Spaniard was subsequently penalized for holding up Rob Huff and was relegated to fifth.
ads2
Hyundai's Hungarian driver lost his quarterback before the start, and his direct rival, Yann Ehrlacher , who started with a six-point deficit , inherited the second starting slot, which foreshadowed an exciting start. Néstor Girolami was in the second row , and Huff was third with a ten-point deficit in the championship overall.
ads3
Michelisz already had the opportunity to secure his title before the last clash, although this would have required the bad luck of his rivals, as he would have had to increase his advantage over his nearest rival from 6 to 30 points .
The starting procedure started with a delay of more than 30 minutes due to the accidents that occurred in the previous motorcycle race. Michelisz started well and managed to keep the lead, followed by Girolami, Huff, Azcona and Frédéric Vervisch in the top five in order, while Ehrlacher slipped back to 9th position.
Although the Frenchman managed to get past Santiago Urrutia and Thed Björk in a short time, and not long after he sent Ma Ching-hua behind him, after that he stalled and was unable to improve his position. Meanwhile Azcona attacked Huff for the third place, and the Briton finally emerged victorious from the close duel that lasted for long laps, so the Spaniard had to settle for fourth place.
Although Girolami was able to stay close to Michelisz during the entire race , he was not in a real overtaking position, so the Hungarian driver from Hyundai confidently crossed the finish line first and took an important step towards the championship title. Michelisz increased his advantage over Huff to 18 points, while Ehrlacher's gap to third place swelled to 20 points before the final race.
Girolami crossed the finish line in second place , then Huff, Azcona, Vervisch, Ehrlacher, Ma, Björk, Urrutia and John Filippi completed the top ten, which means that the latter can expect the start of the second race with a partially reversed starting grid based on the final result of the first race. in which a given competitor can score a total of 30 points.
After the victory, the leader Michelisz is tenth, the second Huff is eighth, while the third Ehrlacher can start from the fifth starting grid in the all-decisive clash.
Continuation on Sunday at 3:20 with the second and last race.
Championship standings after 19 races
1. Norbert Michelisz (Hungarian, Hyundai) 428 points
2. Rob Huff (British, Audi) 410 points
3. Yann Ehrlacher (French, Lynk & Co) 408 points
4. Mikel Azcona (Spain, Hyundai) 331 points
5. Néstor Girolami (Argentine, Honda) 330 points
