Zengő-Dension Motorsport and Norbert Michelisz will start round twenty one of the 2011 FIA World Touring Car Championship from the second row of the grid after a damp but drying qualifying session at the Tianma circuit in Shanghai, China.
Free Practice two had seen the Hungarian driver finish as the second fastest driver and he took his form into qualifying as he progressed to match his qualifying result from Monza and he lines up as the second Yokohama Independent driver on the grid but ahead of his main title protagonists.
During the opening twenty minutes of qualifying, Michelisz swapped on to the slick tyres and then set about flying to second overall and ninth on the grid for the second race of the weekend, but still ahead of his main Yokohama Independents title rivals – who all failed to progress to Q2.
The ten minute qualifying two saw ‘Norbi’ take to the track for the final five minutes of the session and on his first flying lap of the session, he went a provisional third position and this ultimately gave the Hungarian driver his best qualifying result since Monza, where he also lined up fourth – the only drivers ahead of Michelisz are the Chevrolet duo of Alain Menu (Pole Position), Rob Huff and fellow Yokohama Independents racer Colin Turkington in the Wiechers-Sport BMW 320TC.
After qualifying, Michelisz admitted that he is feeling positive about the result but feels that the front row was achievable: “We had known that we would have a difficult qualifying session which is very important at this track because it is very narrow and it will be tough to overtake here tomorrow. I am very positive about the result of the qualification since my main opponents in the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy are behind me and it was my main target for today.
“The fourth place is a bonus as there was a major mistake in my timed lap but it is still one of my best results in WTCC qualifications. I think the first row would have been in reach, I’m sorry that it didn’t work out. I would like to thank to my team as we have suffered a lot with the car and I think we managed to find a good path.”