Published on May 7th, 2015 | by Daniel Sherman Fernandez
0WTCC FIA Norbert and Honda Enjoy Weekend Win
Zengo Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz scored a popular home victory in the second World Touring Car Championship race in Hungary ahead of the ROAL Motorsport pairing of Tom Coronel and Tom Chilton.
Michelisz dominated proceedings having started on pole and romped to a fourth WTCC win – which was also the first non-Citroën victory of the season – 7.103s ahead of Coronel at the flag, with Chilton a further two seconds down on his team-mate.
The Hungarian held his advantage off the line at the start of the race to lead into Turn 1, with Coronel passing Chilton on the run into the corner.
Things weren’t quite as clean further back in the pack, however, as a moment from Sébastien Loeb forced his Citroën team-mate Ma Qing Hua to take evasive action, who tapped the rear of Rob Huff’s LADA Vesta on the exit of the corner, pitching the Briton sideways and breaking his rear suspension.
Michelisz quickly established a lead at the front of the field, with his advantage up to 3.6s at the end of the fourth lap, as a train grew behind second-placed Coronel, with Chilton heading the Honda of Tiago Monteiro and the Citroën trio of Loeb, race one victor José María López and Yvan Muller.
Coronel was eventually able to pull clear of his team-mate, but had to settle for second with Michelisz well up the road, the Hungarian securing a second home win in the championship to the delight of a noisy crowd. Chilton was forced to stay alert in third until the end of the race, but was still relatively comfortable at the flag ahead of Monteiro, Loeb, López and Muller.
Race result
POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
1 | 5 | Y | Norbert MICHELISZ | Zengő Motorsport | Honda Civic WTCC | 14 | 14 LAPS | 1:50.435 | 1 | |
2 | 4 | Y | Tom CORONEL | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 14 | 7.103 | 1:51.228 | 3 | |
3 | 3 | Y | Tom CHILTON | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 14 | 9.315 | 1:51.206 | 2 | |
4 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO | Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 14 | 10.176 | 1:51.209 | 5 | ||
5 | 9 | Sébastien LOEB | Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 14 | 11.235 | 1:51.295 | 7 | ||
6 | 37 | José María LÓPEZ | Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 14 | 12.04 | 1:51.364 | 8 | ||
7 | 68 | Yvan MULLER | Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 14 | 13.065 | 1:51.380 | 10 | ||
8 | 7 | Y | Hugo VALENTE | Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 14 | 18.639 | 1:51.490 | 9 | |
9 | 33 | MA Qing Hua | Citroën Total WTCC | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 14 | 19.826 | 1:51.684 | 6 | ||
10 | 11 | Y | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER | Craft-Bamboo Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 14 | 30.021 | 1:52.118 | 15 | |
11 | 27 | Y | John FILIPPI | Campos Racing | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 14 | 38.66 | 1:52.253 | 13 | |
12 | 26 | Y | Stefano D’ASTE | ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | 14 | 42.03 | 1:52.583 | 12 | |
13 | 2 | Gabriele TARQUINI | Castrol Honda WTC Team | Honda Civic WTCC | 14 | 1:11.284 | 1:50.356 | 17 | ||
R | 14 | Mikhail KOZLOVSKIY | LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 6 | 8 Lp. | N/A | 16 | ||
R | 25 | Y | Mehdi BENNANI | Sébastien Loeb Racing | Citroën C-Elysée WTCC | 1 | 13 Lp. | 1:53.401 | 11 | |
R | 12 | Rob HUFF | LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | 1 | 13 Lp. | N/A | 4 | ||
R | 15 | James THOMPSON | LADA Sport Rosneft | LADA Vesta WTCC | – | DNS | N/A | 14 |