Norbert Michelisz was unable to convert his top four grid position into a solid points haul in either the outright championship or the Yokohama Independents after a rear brake failure on his Zengo-Dension BMW 320TC saw him drop down the field and out of the points in the first race, and fifth in the Independents.
He had held fourth off the line and was keeping the Championship leader, Yvan Muller, behind him during the early stages but was forced to concede when his brakes started to fail and this then saw him drop down the order.
Round twenty two saw “Norbi” line up ninth on the grid but his race was over after one lap – he was spun around by Tiago Monteiro before being collected by fellow Yokohama Independents driver Javi Villa in the Proteam Racing BMW 320TC.
Michelisz was able to recover to the pits but the damage was too severe for the team to repair during the race so he had to retire, which lost him the chance to score valuable points in the Yokohama Independents title battle.
With two races left, Michelisz still finds himself eighth in the overall drivers’ championship and second in the Yokohama Independents, twenty three points behind Kristian Poulsen with forty three points left to race for – Macau offers double points for the Yokohama Independents.
Michelisz can only draw a single positive from the weekend but is looking ahead to the finale on the streets of Macau: “The only positive conclusion that we can draw on this weekend is that we haven’t had such a good pace on qualifying since Brno. The other good news is that my mathematical chance is still remaining to take the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy in Macau. Although it is only mathematical, Macau is typically the place where anything can happen. As things look right now, I don’t need to think about my approach for Macau because I have no choice but to take risks. I’m looking forward to a very exciting weekend.”