Norbert Michelisz says that he is expecting the new Honda Civic TC1 car to be strong in this year’s World Touring Car Championship – despite the Hungarian not having yet sat behind the wheel of the new car.
Michelisz was present at last week’s joint test session at Paul Ricard in which Citroën and Honda were jointly testing their new challengers for the 2014 season. But Michelisz, who will race an independently-entered Civic for Zengő Motorsport, did not get a chance behind the wheel of the car with testing duties left to works’ Honda drivers Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro.
“From what I saw in Paul Ricard I have to say that the car has potential compared to Citroën,” said Michelisz to TouringCars.Net. “But I also saw that it’s a more complex and complicated car. For a driver you have to consider more things – you have to consider the more powerful engine and the aero-spec of the car as well.
“It’s also more complicated for the mechanics and engineers to get a proper ‘view’ of things to change on the car. We will need some time for sure in the first few race weekends to get to know the details which will make the difference.”
Michelisz admits that he has been impressed with the testing performances of the new car in the hands of the works’ JAS Motorsport team and particularly the progress made since the start of the year.
“Seeing the progress the Civic made in terms of lap time from the end of January to the end of February, I think Honda will have at least the same material as Citroën from the third or fourth race weekend,” added Michelisz. “Then it’s up to the Honda drivers to make the most out of it.”
Despite enjoying his most successful season in the WTCC in 2013, Michelisz admits that he doesn’t feel that he will be able to fight for the championship at first due to the uncertainties of the new car.
“To be honest I don’t feel that I am a contender for the championship because it’s difficult to evaluate the competitiveness of the field,” admitted Michelisz. “I know it will be very difficult for me to compete for top positions in the first two or three races.
“My aim is to learn as quickly and as much as possible until Hungary and then to have the information and set-up of the car to fight for the top positions.”
Despite the lack of pre-season testing, Michelisz added that the current situation is no different to his preparations in previous years.
“It’s not such a big drama for us because every year it’s the same – last year I had no testing at all with the Civic and in the previous years we had no pre-season testing so it’s going to be business as usual for us!”
The first round of the 2014 WTCC takes place on the streets of Marrakech in Morcco on the 12th and 13th April.