Norbert Michelisz says that he was ‘determined’ to get his first win as a works’ driver in the opening World Touring Car Championship race in Japan, which the Hungarian achieved in style by beating his Honda team-mates.
Although victory in the reverse-grid Opening Race was Michelisz’s third at the wheel of a Honda, and his fifth overall, it was the first win as a works’ driver since he moved to the factory squad at the start of the year.
Furthermore, it moves Michelisz closer to team-mates Tiago Monteiro and Rob Huff in the drivers’ championship standings, with both of them having already taken wins this season.
Michelisz also stepped onto the podium for the seventh time this year, fewer times only than provisional champion José María López.
“Today is a great day for Honda and myself,” said Michelisz. “Even before Argentina I said I wasn’t interested in finishing second or third anymore; I wanted to win, and after what happened there I was even more determined this weekend!
“It’s a fantastic feeling to get my first win as a works driver and to do it here, at Honda’s home circuit, is more than I could ever have wished for.
“I have to thank the team so much for giving me a car that was so fast even with 80 kg of compensation weight and actually, once I made a good start, the race was quite straightforward and I knew that with Rob behind me, he wouldn’t try anything stupid either.”
Michelisz later revealed that he and the team made a conscious decision to aim for the reverse-grid pole position, having failed to match the pace of team-mate Monteiro for single-lap pace in practice and qualifying.
“We did some strategy yesterday in qualifying,” added the Hungarian. “I was not able to be as fast as Tiago so we had to switch to a different one aiming for P10. We were lucky enough to manage. That was the key and also the standing start for the opening race, it was almost perfect, a very nice acceleration.
“I have to say when you are in front it’s quite easy to manage your brakes and your tyres. I don’t want to say it was too easy, but I was confident enough to not make any mistakes.
“I’m really happy because the main thing now is that with this amount of ballast we were competitive in terms of lap times.”