Norbert Michelisz was pleased to secure pole position for his home round of the FIA World Touring Car Cup in Hungary, saying that he was happy ‘to beat three world champions’.
The home hero was on near-indomitable form at the Hungaroring, topping first practice by over half a second, ending second practice in third, before setting a new TCR qualifying record in Saturday’s first qualifying session.
That means Michelisz will start Saturday’s first race from pole and gives him the best chance of making up for Marrakech, were issues plagued him on the Saturday and left him as the worst-placed of the Hyundai drivers leaving the race weekend.
“I was really happy with today because you always measure yourself against people who are driving the same car as you,” said Michelisz to TouringCars.Net. “It makes me happy to be the first Hyundai, especially competing against three world champions.
“Marrakech was not very lucky, because I think that I had the speed and the car had the speed to be at the front, but it wasn’t my race weekend.”
The eight-time WTCC race winner adds that the presence of his home fans gives him a boost when racing on home soil.
“Sometimes it’s difficult because there is also some pressure, but you also realise after jumping out of the car how much energy you get from the people here.
“Of course conditions can change and you can have higher or lower temperatures that can upset the car balance, but we did a good job of preparing for all different scenarios and I’m just hoping for a good start in the race.”