Norbert Michelisz says that the Circuito da Guia has a ‘poor grip level’ at the moment, despite the Honda driver setting the pace in first practice for the World Touring Car Championship in Macau.
Michelisz put in the fastest lap in Thursday’s opening practice session, but the Hungarian felt that the track, which has not featured on the WTCC calendar since 2014, was lacking grip in a ‘difficult’ session.
“It’s challenging, as Macau is one of the most demanding race tracks in the world,” said Michelisz, who is racing on the street circuit for the sixth time in his career. “I’ve been excited since getting up in the morning and it was special to come back after three years.
“I tried to push a bit – there is some small damage on the car. I tried to explore some lines, but not all of them were OK. But the car seems to be good.
“It was difficult, not because it was hot but because the overall grip level was very poor and I don’t remember to have this feeling before in Macau.
“The track seems to be quite ‘green’, but I also saw that the others were struggling so we should be OK for tomorrow.”
Michelisz, who is currently 16.5 points behind Volvo’s Thed Björk in the championship battle, played down the significance of being quickest so early on in the weekend.
“Of course I’m happy to be in front and I did enjoy being back here with the extra adrenalin rush, but nobody should overestimate the results from today.”