Norbert Michelisz says he experienced “excitement like never before” after racing to a fourth-placed finish in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
Michelisz claimed fourth in Saturday’s opening WTCC race, despite the Zengő Motorsport driver taking a hit from Campos Racing’s Hugo Valente at the start of the race which affected the balance of his Honda Civic.
“It was eventful at the start and in the first two corners, because I had a really good start,” said Michelisz to TouringCars.Net. “After that I felt that I could gain two positions from Séb [Loeb] and Hugo, but unfortunately when I went to the inside of Hugo he decided to close the door and we made contact and my steering was not straight. It was difficult to judge before braking for the first corner if the car was in one piece. I was a little bit too cautious and so Séb and Yvan [Muller] took me in the first two corners, so I had to settle for fourth.
“I was not sure on the first lap if the car would survive, because the steering started to be more and more not straight, but in the end I managed to keep the position, so I think that was the maximum for us.”
Unfortunately for Michelisz, race two lasted just a handful of corners after he was hit by a competitor, forcing him into retirement. Despite that, the Hungarian remained upbeat about his weekend results, and enthused over the opportunity to race on the Nordschleife.
“In the second race, we were unlucky but we were lucky last time in Hungary so I think it balances out. Overall I’m happy because of the results this weekend.
“It was an amazing event and to compete on a circuit like this was excitement like I never experienced before, because normally we are used to different kind of circuits. In the first laps you really have to switch your mind and take a step back in order to not have a big accident.
“I enjoyed every moment and luckily had the experience to drive here in the rain. If you consider that 30 or 40 years ago people with less safety [devices] were driving in conditions like this, on a circuit like this, then you really understand that it was very different to be a racing car driver at that time. To experience things like this, for me it was quite special.
“On a normal circuit, in qualifying you have one or two attempts. Even if you miss a braking point, you have the run off area. You can go wide, you come back to the pits, change tyres and go out for another run. But here you have some corners where if you make just one slight mistake, you could finish your whole weekend and maybe also suffer some injuries. The whole approach is quite different.
“I think I improved as a person and as a racing car driver, just because of this experience.”